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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Nine U.S. Army peacekeepers stationed in Kosovo are accused of having beaten, threatened and illegally detained civilians they were assigned to protect, according to a U.S. army report to be released next week.
The U.S.-based ABC television network said the military report would contain graphic details of alleged misconduct by nine members of a parachute unit in the elite 82nd Airborne. Army officials said the 600-page report would focus on "A Company" in the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and would clearly document widespread discipline problems within the unit, ABC reported on its website Friday. The army document, to be released Monday, could be extremely embarrassing for the 82nd Airborne, an army division that has a long and illustrious history, including a major role in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Until now, reports of American misconduct in Kosovo have focused on the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl by army sergeant Frank Ronghi, who was sentenced earlier this year to life in prison by a U.S. military court. Among the allegations is a charge that an officer ordered an enlisted soldier to punch a Kosovar civilian in the stomach. Yet another officer is accused of holding a weapon to the back of a civilians head and asking, "Do you want to die?" the television network reported. The report concludes that the soldiers sent for duty in Kosovo were essentially trained for combat, and had little experience or training in peacekeeping duties. |
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