PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT REGARDING THE GOA'S SHINDAND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 002402 SIPDIS SENSITIVE PASS STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A NSC FOR WOOD OSD FOR MCGRAW CENTCOM FOR CSTC-A, POLAD, CG CJTF-101 E.O 12958 TAGS: MOPS PGOV PREL AF SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT REGARDING THE GOA'S SHINDAND INVESTIGATION ¶1. (U) The following is Embassy's translation of the Office of the President's August 31st statement detailing the results of a GOA investigation of the Shindand operation. ¶2. (U) Begin text: Nimatullah Shahrani, the Minister for Hajj and Endowment Affairs was assigned as the head of the delegation to investigate the Coalition Forces' bombardment in Azizabad and Nowabad villages in Shindand District, Herat Province. The delegation was comprised of MPs from the Lower and Upper houses of Parliament and representatives from the Afghan Ministry of Interior. The head of the delegation stated that the Coalition Forces targeted 15 residential houses, eight of which were totally destroyed, and seven were partially damaged. The delegation stated that Coalition Forces bombed a mourning ceremony for an influential Herati citizen, Mr. Timor Shah. (Note: During mourning ceremonies a large number of people participate, recite the holy Quran, and then eat together). As stated, high-ranking security and other government officials were invited to the ceremony for Mr. Shah. The delegation noticed some cooking pots, and a water tank, which were destroyed as a result of the bombing. The delegation also noticed human body parts at the sites (e.g. hands, feet, and heads) which were collected and kept by the local people after burying the dead. The head of the delegation stated that 90 civilians were killed and six were injured as a result of the bombing. The dead included 15 adult males and 15 adult females. The remaining victims were children between ages 1 and 18 years- old. The Coalition Forces arrested five teenagers during the operation. As stated by local residents, security institutions in the district, and eye witnesses, all the victims were civilians and did not include any Taliban insurgents. Naimatullah Shahrani added that the military and intelligence officials in the province did not have any information regarding the presence of Taliban insurgents in the area. Based on the remarks by Herat Province's Provincial Council Head, the Commander of the 207th Army Corps told the Council via phone that they had no information regarding the Coalition Forces' plan to bomb the area. The head of the delegation added that after questioning the army officials, they found that the U.S. Special Forces had only informed the Afghan Commandos Battalion of the operation. In fact 45 Afghan commandos were accompanying the Special Forces during the raid in Azizabad village. According to the Commander of Army Corps, the Afghan commandos and U.S. Special Forces were traveling together towards the villages when they came under attack. The Afghan commandos stopped and held their position while the U.S. Special Forces continued their march into the villages and began to conduct the operation. The Commander added that the Coalition forces' aircraft bombed the area continuously from 2:00 A.M. until 8:00 A.M. Naimatullah Shahrani added that the delegation spoke to the local people and the families of the victims in detail and passed the President's, Parliament's, and the Security Forces' condolences to them and recognized and acknowledged their patience during the delegation's investigation. Naimatullah Shahrani added that the people asked the delegation for the following: "We are not going to complain to the police, the military, or intelligence officials, but we are asking the delegation to bring to justice those who caused this incident by providing inaccurate information." The local people asked the government to take this issue seriously and to tackle those foreign spies who are trying to create distance between the Government of Afghanistan and the people, and for trying to encourage the Coalition Forces to act against the people of Afghanistan. Mr. Naimatullah Shahrani also said that the delegation distributed 90,300,000 Afghanis for the burials and funerals KABUL 00002402 002 OF 002 of the victims. The President also ordered the officials in Herat Province to assign another delegation to investigate the damage in the surrounding area. The delegation also met with the Commander of the U.S. Specials Forces in charge of the western zone, but the answers provided were not satisfactory. The U.S. officials stated that the responsible officials were now in Bagram answering questions related to the incident. They will inform the delegation of the results. The Afghan President studied the REPORT prepared by the delegation and expressed condolences and sympathy to the local residents of the two villages via phone and assured them of a thorough follow up. End text. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: Post brings this to WashingtonQs attention, although a number of the characterizations of the situation do not square with our understanding of events, which will be reported through military channels. END COMMENT. WOOD