34°43′14″N 69°13′56″E / 34.72056°N 69.23222°E Rish Khor camp is located near Kabul city in Afghanistan.[1]
History
editAfter the 1978 Communist seizure of power, Rish Khor camp was the site of a revolt in October 1979:[2]
A severe battle occurred at Rishkor, just a few kilometers southwest of the capital. The garrison revolted. Bhasin describes the battle from accounts by eyewitnesses: "There were several hundred casualties in hours of heavy fighting in the Rishkor Division. During the battle which lasted from 14 October to the afternoon of 15 October, the government brought in its tanks, mortars, modern Soviet Mi-24 assault helicopters and bombers."
The 444th Commando Regiment was also involved in the suppression of the mutiny.[3]
When the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence began their planning to orchestrate Mujaheddin attacks on the Soviet Army, they had among their military targets Rishkoor garrison with "the headquarters of both the Afghan 7th Division and 37th Commando Brigade, plus the 88th Artillery Brigade."[4]
By July 1981 the division headquarters of the 7th Infantry Division had been relocated from Rishkoor to Moqor.[5]
During Soviet occupation it was a Soviet Airborne Troops base.[6]
In 1994, troops of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-i Islami and Commander Zardad operated from this base.[7]
In 1998, under Taliban rule, the place hosted an Al-Qaida training camp for militants from various groups including Harkat-ul-Mujahideen[8] and was said to be Osama bin Laden's 'University of Terror'.[9]
In 2000, BBC's Kate Clark visited the base and found it 'deserted'.[10][11]
In late 2001, America dropped bombs on this camp for seven nights in a row and obliterated it. Later U.S. special forces raided it and found 'detailed information about chemical, biological and nuclear weapons'.[12]
In 2007, Camp Morehead, a Commando Training Center[13] was established here which serves as the principal site for training the Afghan National Army Commando Corps.[6] The training center was named after a United States Army 5th Special Forces Group soldier, Master Sergeant Kevin Morehead, who was killed in Iraq in September 2003.[14] The camp is reported to house the Rish Khor prison, a secret U.S. detention facility.[15]
In October 2016, an attacker wearing a military uniform killed two people near the site.[16]
References
edit- ^ "Afghan special forces brace for exit of US elite troops". Dawn.Com. 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ Nyrop, Richard F.; Donald M. Seekins (January 1986). Area Handbook Series: Afghanistan: A Country Study. Fort Belvoir, VA: Defense Technical Information Center. p. 303.
- ^ Александр Бырихин (2022-04-15). ""Пожарная команда" Кабула | Warspot.ru" ["Fire Brigade" Kabul]. Archived from the original on 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ^ Mohammad Yusaf and Mark Adkin, "The Bear Trap."
- ^ Urban 1988, p79.
- ^ a b Thomas Gibbons-Neff (2017-08-11). "In bid to beat back the Taliban, Afghanistan starts expanding its commando units". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "The Afghanistan Justice Project – FAVON". Favon.org. 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "The Taliban and Terrorism: - Report from Afghanistan - The Washington Institute for Near East Policy". Washingtoninstitute.org. 2000-04-06. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ Sandeep Unnithan (7 September 2012). "The terror academy". India Today. Indiatoday.in. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "SOUTH ASIA | Afghan militant camp disbands". BBC News. 2000-06-23. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ Kate Clark (2016-07-12). "Chechens in Afghanistan 3 (Flash from the Past): Diplomats, yes, but fighters? | Afghanistan Analysts Network". Afghanistan-analysts.org. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "Left Behind in the Camps - ABC News". ABC News.
- ^ "Commando Training Center Rish Khor". Afghan-bios.info. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ US Department of Defense, Gates Visits New Afghan Commando Training Site
- ^ "Terror comes at night in Afghanistan". Atimes.com. 2010-01-30. Archived from the original on 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Two Americans killed in attack at Kabul army base". Al Jazeera. 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
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