Washington/Kabul, July 13 (DPA) US President Barack Obama has ordered an inquiry into allegations that the administration of his predecessor, George W. Bush, blocked investigations of a mass killing of Taliban prisoners by a CIA-backed Afghan warlord in 2001.
The president said details of the possible cover-up had only just been brought to his attention, and his national security team were now looking into the affair.
At least 1,000 Taliban prisoners who had surrendered to the US-backed Northern Alliance in late 2001 were murdered.
The fighters were in the custody of Abdul Rashid Dostum, a warlord known to be backed by the CIA, but who had once fought against the US-backed Mujahideen in the 1980s.
“The indications that this had not been properly investigated just recently was brought to my attention,” Obama told US broadcaster CNN.
“So what I’ve asked my national security team to do is to collect the facts for me that are known, and we’ll probably make a decision in terms of how to approach it once we have all of the facts gathered up,” Obama said.
Many of the prisoners are thought to have died of heat and suffocation after being herded into metal container trucks in the Afghan desert.
According to the New York Times, citing government officials and human rights bodies, the Bush administration repeatedly stonewalled attempts to investigate the episode.
“I think that… there are responsibilities that all nations have, even in war. And if it appears that our conduct in some way supported violations of laws of war, then I think that… we have to know about that,” Obama added.
