Afghan Officer Held in Border Killings
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghan authorities have detained a police commander accused in the killings of 16 people along the border with Pakistan, a provincial governor said today.
Abdul Razzak, a commander for the Spin Buldak border district, has been removed from his post pending an investigation, said Haji Asadullah Khalid, governor of the southern province of Kandahar.
Khalid would not say whether Razzak was fired, referring questions to the Interior Ministry in Kabul, where spokesman Yousuf Stanizai refused to comment.
Afghan authorities are investigating the killings, reported March 22, amid conflicting claims whether those slain were Taliban fighters entering Afghanistan from Pakistan or Pakistani tribesmen traveling to Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan to celebrate Nowruz, a spring festival that marks the new year.
Pakistan formally protested the killings, demanding punishment for those responsible.
Razzak had said the victims were Taliban fighters killed by his soldiers in a two-hour battle.
However, Saqib Aziz, a Pakistani official in the neighboring town of Chaman, alleged that the victims were Pakistanis from the Noorzai tribe and killed because of a feud with Razzak’s clan.
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