A civil society activist in the province told the Bureau: “The 02 unit conducts operations with impunity and no regard for civilian lives, they destroy civilian homes that those people put so much effort into building, burn cars and use explosives and air strikes at will.” (…)
Patricia Gossman, senior Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch, told the Bureau: “Devolving such authority to Afghan special forces compounds the existing problem about whether those ordering the air strikes are adequately distinguishing between combatants and civilians, between legitimate military objectives and protected civilian property.”
In an interview with the Bureau, Hayatullah Hayat who is the governor of Nangarhar [but has recently shuffled to Kandahar], acknowledged that civilian casualties from raids by US-backed Afghan intelligence special forces were a problem, which he said his office was seeking to address by raising awareness among the civilian population of what to do during a raid.
