10 Afghan military officers jailed over March attack

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - A military court in the capital Kabul convicted and handed out jail terms to 10 officers, including generals over their failure to prevent a deadly Daesh attack on a hospital in March, the Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday.

The gun-and-bomb attack at the Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan Hospital in Kabul on March 8 by Daesh fighters dressed in doctors' white overcoats had left up to 50 people dead. The hospital is located in the heart of the capital close to the diplomatic enclave.

The security breach had been widely criticized in the country that led to the immediate sacking of high ranking Ministry of Defense officials and the start of a military trial against them.

The military court reached its decision against the 10 Defense Ministry officials late Wednesday.

Mohammad Radmanesh, ministry's deputy spokesman, told Anadolu Agency that generals were among those sent to jail.

“The military court has imprisoned five convicts to one year in prison while five others have been sent to jail for two-and-a-half years,” Radmanesh said. The officials had been found guilty of being unable to prevent the March attack and negligence of their duties, he added.

The jailed officials include: Maj. Gen. Abdul Razaq Siawash, commander of health division at Office of the General Staff; Gen. Abul Salam Nejrabi, chief of health division at the Office of the General Staff; Gen. Abdul Kabar, commander of medical support division; Lt. Salahudin Salauddin, chief of medical support division; Lt. Rasool Mohammad, deputy commander of medical support division; Lt. Mir Ahmad, director of counter-intelligence in medical division; Lt. Zafar Khan, director of intelligence for medical studies academy. The other four individuals are said to be low ranking officers.

On Wednesday, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani had called for fundamental reforms in the security sector. Earlier, Ghani called the Ministry of Interior “the heart of corruption” in Afghanistan.