Ex-Afghan warlord and current military chief of staff ‘suspended’

The Afghan attorney general has suspended General Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former warlord, from his government position for not cooperating with a police investigation into an assault case earlier this month, BBC News reported Tuesday.

A spokesman for the attorney general stated that Dostum and his men had assaulted a former ally and rival, Akbar Bai, and some of his relatives earlier this month. The incident escalated when an armed standoff began between the general and the dozens of police surrounding his house. The situation was defused when Dostum agreed to come in for questioning. His subsequent failure to do so prompted the recent suspension.

Dostum has garnered negative international attention in the past. An ethnic Uzbeck from northern Afghanistan, he oversaw brutal campaigns as a commander during the Afghan civil war and the 2001 U.S.-led war against the Taliban. Many Afghan and international groups say Dostum should be tried for these abuses.

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