With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Afghanistan War Logs: 90,000 classified documents revealed by Wikileaks

Tens of thousands of secret American military documents have been leaked disclosing how Nato forces have killed scores of civilians in unreported incidents in Afghanistan.

The classified memos also reveal the secret efforts of coalition forces to hunt down and “kill or capture” senior Taliban and al-Qaeda figures.

And they document growing evidence that Iran and Pakistan is supporting the insurgency. Although many of the claims in the documents, of which there are more than 90,000, have been aired previously, the leak to the website Wikileaks is highly embarrassing. It was condemned by the White House last night, which said the information could threaten the safety of coalition operations.

The Ministry of Defence said it was still studying the leaked documents.

The most damaging allegations surround the killing of civilians by coalition troops. The documents claim that 195 civilians have been improperly killed and 174 wounded. Many were innocent motorcyclists or drivers shot after being suspected of being suicide bombers....
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)