The controversy over 88 Taliban fighters and prisoners slated to be freed by the Afghan government continues, as seven of the prisoners are said to have carried out the green-on-blue, or insider attacks, in which members of the Afghan security forces kill Coalition personnel. From Khaama Press:
At least seven of those “88 dangerous prisoners” held in Bagram Jail of Parwan are said to be accused of “green on blue” attacks, said an ISAF official.
A number of the 88 are prime suspects in the insider, or “green on blue,” incidents in which Afghans wearing army or police uniforms have attacked and killed U.S. and coalition troops, said Col. Dave Lapan, a spokesman for NATO General Commander Gen. Joseph Dunford.
“At least seven of the 88 fall into that category,” Lapan said in an e-mail from ISAF headquarters in Kabul.
A Pentagon spokesman also confirmed that insider attack suspects were among the 88, but declined to give a number.
The 88 were among more than 3,000 prisoners the U.S. turned over to Afghan jurisdiction last year with pledges from the Afghans that their cases would be processed through the Afghan justice system.
Continuing release of the prisoners from Bagram Jail, the Afghan government recently decided to release the 88 detainees as described by the US the “dangerous prisoners.”
According to a report in The Washington Post on Jan. 9, the Afghan government has decided that it will free 72 of the 88 prisoners:
President Hamid Karzai declared Thursday that the evidence against the 72 men — which had been collected by both the Afghan intelligence service and the U.S. military — was insufficient to warrant formal trials, according to a statement from the presidential palace.
The release, which is expected within days, was ordered after a “thorough and serious review of the prisoners,” the statement said.
It is unclear if any of the seven prisoners involved in the green-on-blue attacks are among the 72 to be freed within the next few days, or instead are among the 16 being held for trial.
