US forces rape women in northern Afghanistan village: Locals

US Special Operations forces search a home during
a nighttime raid in Afghanistan.

The residents of a village in northern Afghanistan say American troopers raped several women during a nighttime raid in the rural community.The locals said that the incident took place in a village in the Chahar Bolak district of Afghanistan’s Balkh Province where US special forces carried out house-to-house searches, Afghanistan Information Network reported on Sunday. However, the name of the village was not disclosed as the villagers said they had been threatened by the commander of the US forces with “consequences” in case of complaining about the issue. During the operation, the troopers separated the men and women of about 15 families and raped several women, the locals said. Since the beginning of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, American troopers have on different occasions abused Afghans. Last month, a US trooper involved in the mass killing of Afghan civilians in southern Afghanistan in March admitted to his crimes for the first time before a military court in the United States