FOB Salerno

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FOB Salerno (also known as Firebase Salerno) is a forward operating base of the U.S. military in south eastern province of Khowst, near the city of Khost in Afghanistan. It has been nicknamed "Rocket City" due to the large amounts of incoming rocket and mortar fire in previous years.

Contents

[edit] December 1, 2002 rocket attack

Several rockets were fired at Firebase Salerno on December 1, 2002.[1] Jan Baz Khan, the local militia commander who American forces paid to provide local security around the base quickly turned over a number of suspects he assured the Americans were responsible for the attack.

Dilawar a taxi driver who Jan Baz Khan turned over to the Americans succumbed to injuries due to ongoing brutal treatment by his captors on December 10, 2002.[1] Tim Golden of the New York Times reported that the Americans who murdered Dilawar believed he was innocent, and were merely beating him for kicks. Golden reported that, by February 2003, American intelligence analysts had concluded that Jan Baz Khan had been responsible for the attack, that he had sold innocent men to them for the bounty. Close to a dozen other men were held in Guantanamo due to Jan Baz Khan's allegation, or to an alleged association with him.

[edit] Captives held because of an alleged connection to the attack on Firebase Salerno

isn name

notes

Jan Baz Khan
  • A protege of his uncle Pacha Khan Zadran.
  • Pacha Khan Zadran was one of the militia leaders who signed the Bonn Agreement that made Hamid Karzai President of the Afghan Transitional Authority. Pacha Khan was rewarded with authority for security over Khost, and related areas.
  • American forces gave Jan Baz Khan the contract to provide the local security around their base in Khost.
  • When there was a rocket attack Jan Baz Khan was given bounties for turning in over a dozen suspects, however, he was later suspected of planning and overseeing the execution of the attack himself.
831 Khandan Kadir
  • The local chief of the new Afghan Intelligence Agency's Counter-narcotics branch who was denounced by Jan Baz Khan, prior to American intelligence officials losing confidence in Jan Baz Khan.[2][3] Jan Baz Khan commanded the local militia troops that accompanied the Americans who captured Khandan Kadir. However, after American intelligence officials lost confidence in Jan Baz Khan, Kadir faced the allegation that he was captured with Jan Baz Khan.
Dilawar
Abdur Rahim
Parkhudin
898 Zakim Shah
  • Dilawar was a jitney taxi driver, captured by Jan Baz Khan's forces together with his three passengers, who was subsequently, brutally beaten to death by American soldiers in Bagram.[1]
  • Abdur Rahim, Zakim Shah and Parkhudin were Dilawar's three passengers.[1][4] They survived their interrogations in Bagram, and were transferred to Guantanamo, and were released on March 15, 2004.
928 Khi Ali Gul
  • Alleged to have hosted the planning of the December 1]] 2002 rocket attack on Forward Operating Base Salerno.[5][6]
Mohammed Salim
Rahman Tulah
1052 Mahbub Rahman
1050 Azimullah
  • Azimullah and Mahbub Rahman were students at a small Madrassa in the village of Zaku Khel, who were accused of spying on Firebase Salerno, prior to the rocket attack.
  • Mohammed Salim was a traveler they met the day of their capture, whose testimony Mahbub Rahman requested.
    • Although Mahbub Rahman's Tribunal's President ruled his testimony "relevant, it was then ruled "not reasonably available", when the camp authorities at the Bagram Theater Detention Facility acknowledged they still had Salim in custody, they declined to take a witness statement from him.
    • Rahman Tulah was a third student who attended the Madrass in Zaku Khel
  • American intelligence analysts told Mahbub Rahman's Administrative Review Board that known terrorist were from Zaku Khel.
Four villagers from Zamikhel
457 Mohammad Gul
458 Abib Sarajuddin
459 Gul Zaman
460 Khan Zaman
  • Following the al Qaeda attack on September 11, 2001, the Northern Alliance started its sweep from the North, and independent Afghan militia leader were encouraged to rise up and overthrow the Taliban locally.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
  • Abib Sarajuddin, a member of the Zadran tribe, was asked by tribal elders to raise troops from his village and four surrounding villages, to fight under Pacha Khan Zadran, to help overthrow the Taliban locally.
  • On November 16, 2001 American intelligence analysts received a tip that Abib Sarajuddin had hosted a fleeing senior Taliban leader, overnight, and, in retaliation they bombed his house, killing his wife and many other family members.
  • In January 2002 American forces finally traveled to Zaku Khel, to check out the tip they received, that triggered the retaliatory strike on Sarajuddin's home.
  • One of the allegations against Abib Sarajuddin, and his fellow villagers, was that he received a large welfare payment, to compensate him for the loss of his family members, and his house. American intelligence officers assert that the payment came from Pacha Khan Zadran.
  • Abib Sarajuddin, and his fellow villagers were captured almost a year prior to the rocket attack on Firebase Salerno, and a year prior to American forces classifiying Pacha Khan Zadran as a renegade.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Tim Golden. "In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths", New York Times, May 20, 2005. Retrieved on March 27. 
  2. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Khandan Kadir's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 9-31
  3. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Khandan Kadir's Administrative Review Board hearing - pages 1-21
  4. ^ "Guantánamo Memories, From Outside the Wire", New York Times, June 21, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-20. 
  5. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Khi Ali Gul's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 47-58
  6. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Khi Ali Gul's Administrative Review Board hearing - pages 196-205 — September 2005
  7. ^ John Burns, Villagers Add to Reports of Raids Gone Astray, New York Times, February 2, 2002
  8. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Abib Sarajuddin's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 36-41
  9. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Abib Sarajuddin's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 193
  10. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Mohammad Gul's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - - mirror - pages 1-12
  11. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Gul Zaman's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - mirror - pages 39-53
  12. ^ Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Khan Zaman's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 20-35
  13. ^ Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Khan Zaman's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 207

[edit] External links