- There are multiple individuals named Abdul Ghaffar.
Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar (died September 26, 2004) was an Afghan who has been reported as being held in extrajudicial detention by the United States in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.[1]
Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar is frequently cited as an example of a Guantanamo captives who tricked their way out of imprisonment, so they could "return to the battlefield." Vice President Dick Cheney cited Ghaffar as a justification for continuing to detain suspects at Guantanamo.[2]
The Department of Defense complied with a court order from US District Court Justice Jed Rakoff to release the identities of all the Guantanamo detainees on May 15, 2006.[3] This list, described as the full official list of all the Guantanamo detainees who had been held in military custody named two detainees named Abdul Ghaffar and Abdul Ghafour. But both of those individuals remained held in detention for their Combatant Status Review Tribunals and Administrative Review Board hearings -- years past the time the individual identified as Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar, a Taliban commander who returned to the battlefield would have been killed in action.
Ghaffar was captured about two months after the US Invasion of Afghanistan, and according to various accounts, he was only held by the Americans for eight months.[1][4]
After his release Ghaffar served as a leader within the Taliban.
Ghaffar was killed in battle on September 26, 2004, in Uruzgan province.[5] Ghaffar was believed to have been the Taliban commander for Uruzgan.
Defense Intelligence Agency claims he "returned to terrorism"
The Defense Intelligence Agency asserted Abdul Ghaffar had "returned to terrorism".[6] The DIA reported:
Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar was captured in early 2002 and held at GTMO for eight months. After his release, Ghaffar reportedly became the Taliban’s regional commander in Uruzgan and Helmand provinces, carrying out attacks on U.S. and Afghan forces. On 25 September 2004, while planning an attack against Afghan police, Ghaffar and two of his men were killed in a raid by Afghan security forces.
See also
References
- ^ a b Gitmo Detainees Return To Terror, CBS News, October 17, 2004
- ^ Cheney defends Guantanamo as essential to war: VP says that if freed, prisoners would return to battlefield, San Francisco Chronicle, June 14, 2005
- ^ list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006
- ^ Released Detainees Join Fight, LA Times, October 22, 2004
- ^ 7 ex-detainees return to fighting: Guantanamo release process called imperfect, Boston Globe, October 14, 2004
- ^ "Fact Sheet: Former GTMO Detainee Terrorism Trends", Defense Intelligence Agency (2008-06-13). Retrieved on 27 July 2008. mirror
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