U.S. Special Operations soldiers have been banned from a key province in Afghanistan, following allegations that they and the Afghans helping them might have tortured and killed civilians.

A statement from Afghan President Hamid Karzai reportedly suggested that American troops may have committed abuses against villagers in the province of Maidan Wardak.

But Afghan officials later said that Afghans supporting American commandos were the main suspects, and that U.S. soldiers had more likely enabled the wrongdoings instead of perpetrated them. The accusations centered on the actions of local militia armed and trained by the Americans, the creation of which has been opposed by Afghanistan’s national government.

Afghan officials said they had tried for weeks to get the U.S. to cooperate with an investigation into claims that civilians had been killed, abducted or tortured by Afghans working for Americans. But the U.S. military would not go along with the probe, and is conducting its own.

The U.S.-backed NATO command claimed that their previous inquiries have found no evidence of such claims. Afghan officials insist that NATO ignored three months of complaints by local residents regarding alleged abuse.

U.S. officials claim that removing Special Forces from Maidan Wardak could hamper efforts to protect the capital city of Kabul, which is just northeast of the province that the Taliban has used to stage attacks on the city. The U.S. forces have been given two weeks to complete its departure from the province.

The move by Karzai’s government demonstrated “its willingness to take a far harder line against abuses linked to foreign troops than it has in the past,” wrote Matthew Rosenberg of The New York Times. “The action also reflected a deep distrust of international forces that is now widespread in Afghanistan, and the view held by many Afghans, President Hamid Karzai among them, that the coalition shares responsibility with the Taliban for the violence that continues to afflict the country.”

A joint commission of inquiry, consisting of NATO and Afghan coalition officials, is said to be evaluating the accusations this week.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Afghanistan Bars Elite U.S. Troops From a Key Province (by Matthew Rosenberg, New York Times)

Afghan Officials say NATO Ignored Complaints of Abuses by U.S. Special Operations Forces (by Richard Leiby, Washington Post)

Afghanistan says U.S. Special Forces May Be behind Torture, Murder (by Josh Levs, CNN)

U.S./NATO-Backed Afghan Security Forces Engage in Ongoing Torture (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

New Afghan Commander Oversaw Torture Program (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)