NATO troops open fire on prisoner: report

Asia Times Online's Pakistan bureau chief, Syed Saleem Shahzad, relays his sources' report that NATO soldiers opened fire on prisoners in the midst of a riot at Pul-e-charkhi prison (see aerial photo here). The prison, notorious for overcrowding and abuses both during the Soviet era and today, is located a few kilometers east of Kabul.

Afghanistan: Riot in US-run prison
Syed Saleem Shahzad

KABUL, March 13 (AKI) - Prisoners held in Kabul’s controversial Pul-i-Charkhi jail rioted late on Thursday when NATO forces tried to shift Taliban inmates for interrogation.

Unnamed sources told Adnkronos International (AKI) that inmates in block 4 of the prison resisted their removal by NATO personnel, alleging that NATO officials wanted to carry out an extrajudicial killing.

The protest soon spread all over the jail. Inmates in another part of the prison (block 7) turned violent and around five were wounded when NATO personnel opened fire on the prisoners, according to AKI's sources.

Pul-i-Charkhi, where political prisoners are held, is located outside the Afghan capital. Most Taliban prisoners are currently held there. ...

Experts have said the prison is one of several around the world holding repatriated Afghans detained by the United States including former inmates from the notorious US military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ... (link)