"Qazi Nasir Mudassir said he had expected that if armed men climbed over the walls of his radio station’s compound, they would probably be Taliban insurgents coming to make good on death threats because of his broadcasts.
Instead, by his account and that of the local Afghan police, the armed men were American Special Forces troops, who scaled his walls with ladders on Thursday, arresting Mr. Mudassir and two other employees of Radio Paighame Milli.
The station, which Mr. Mudassir owns, broadcasts in the Mohammad Agha district of Logar Province, an area troubled by insurgent activity, just 30 miles south of Kabul.
After all three were released without charges the next day, Mr. Mudassir at first refused to discuss what happened, but on Saturday he accused American soldiers of beating him and threatening to kill him to extract information during his detention. They were apparently unaware, he said, that his radio station is supported in large part by pro-government, pro-coalition propaganda advertisements paid for by the American military.
The arrests, which briefly cut off the station’s broadcasts, also drew protests from Afghan journalists’ groups.
The American military initially had no comment beyond a tersely worded statement released Saturday in the name of the International Security Assistance Forces Joint Command, claiming that the raid was a largely Afghan operation. “We can confirm an Afghan-led combined operation occurred on Feb. 27 in Mohammad Agha district due to reporting of potential enemy activity,” the statement said. “Afghan forces detained three individuals until the presence of heavy weapons and fighting positions at the location could be investigated further.”
Spokesmen for the Afghan Ministry of Interior, which is in charge of police units, and the Ministry of Defense, said they were unaware of the operation.
The Afghan police chief in the Mohammad Agha district, Abdul Wakil Haqyar, said the local police had not found out about what he said was an American Special Forces operation until it was already underway on Thursday. “The operation was independent and not coordinated with us,” he said. No Afghan police units, local or national, were involved in the operation, he said.
The American military maintains that it no longer conducts unilateral raids and operates only in conjunction with Afghan units, according to an agreement with the Afghan government. But many Afghan officials have complained that during operations by Special Operations and Special Forces troops, Afghan units are still often given only a secondary or token role if they are present.
Mr. Mudassir said a force of more than two dozen Americans carried out the raid, ransacking his premises and damaging much of the broadcasting equipment, as well as seizing computers, phones and recording gear. “They even put that black hood over my head and slapped me and beat me,” he said.
“They treated us inhumanely even though we were very pro their presence, and pro-government,” Mr. Mudassir said. He said that he had been taken to the United States Army’s Special Forces base in Logar and held overnight, and that interrogators had tried to get him to identify photographs of people suspected of being insurgents. “They said, ‘You better tell the truth because you know if we want to kill you we can.’ “"
Instead, by his account and that of the local Afghan police, the armed men were American Special Forces troops, who scaled his walls with ladders on Thursday, arresting Mr. Mudassir and two other employees of Radio Paighame Milli.
The station, which Mr. Mudassir owns, broadcasts in the Mohammad Agha district of Logar Province, an area troubled by insurgent activity, just 30 miles south of Kabul.
After all three were released without charges the next day, Mr. Mudassir at first refused to discuss what happened, but on Saturday he accused American soldiers of beating him and threatening to kill him to extract information during his detention. They were apparently unaware, he said, that his radio station is supported in large part by pro-government, pro-coalition propaganda advertisements paid for by the American military.
The arrests, which briefly cut off the station’s broadcasts, also drew protests from Afghan journalists’ groups.
The American military initially had no comment beyond a tersely worded statement released Saturday in the name of the International Security Assistance Forces Joint Command, claiming that the raid was a largely Afghan operation. “We can confirm an Afghan-led combined operation occurred on Feb. 27 in Mohammad Agha district due to reporting of potential enemy activity,” the statement said. “Afghan forces detained three individuals until the presence of heavy weapons and fighting positions at the location could be investigated further.”
Spokesmen for the Afghan Ministry of Interior, which is in charge of police units, and the Ministry of Defense, said they were unaware of the operation.
The Afghan police chief in the Mohammad Agha district, Abdul Wakil Haqyar, said the local police had not found out about what he said was an American Special Forces operation until it was already underway on Thursday. “The operation was independent and not coordinated with us,” he said. No Afghan police units, local or national, were involved in the operation, he said.
The American military maintains that it no longer conducts unilateral raids and operates only in conjunction with Afghan units, according to an agreement with the Afghan government. But many Afghan officials have complained that during operations by Special Operations and Special Forces troops, Afghan units are still often given only a secondary or token role if they are present.
Mr. Mudassir said a force of more than two dozen Americans carried out the raid, ransacking his premises and damaging much of the broadcasting equipment, as well as seizing computers, phones and recording gear. “They even put that black hood over my head and slapped me and beat me,” he said.
“They treated us inhumanely even though we were very pro their presence, and pro-government,” Mr. Mudassir said. He said that he had been taken to the United States Army’s Special Forces base in Logar and held overnight, and that interrogators had tried to get him to identify photographs of people suspected of being insurgents. “They said, ‘You better tell the truth because you know if we want to kill you we can.’ “"
