A deeply entrenched "culture of revenge" in the Pakistani army led to a spate of murders during fighting against the Taliban in Swat and the tribal belt, according to a secret US assessment last year.
But while US diplomats voiced private concerns about the killings – now admitted to number in the hundreds – they deemed it was better not to comment publicly in order to allow the Pakistani army to take action on its own.
Last October, one year after the assessment was sent to Washington, US officials made moves to sanction several Pakistani military units accused of the killings. Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, has also launched an investigation.
"A growing body of evidence is lending credence to allegations of human rights abuses by Pakistan security force" during fighting in the Swat valley and the tribal belt, the US ambassador, Anne Patterson, wrote in September 2009.
US 'kept Pakistani army Swat murders secret' | World news | guardian.co.uk
But while US diplomats voiced private concerns about the killings – now admitted to number in the hundreds – they deemed it was better not to comment publicly in order to allow the Pakistani army to take action on its own.
Last October, one year after the assessment was sent to Washington, US officials made moves to sanction several Pakistani military units accused of the killings. Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, has also launched an investigation.
"A growing body of evidence is lending credence to allegations of human rights abuses by Pakistan security force" during fighting in the Swat valley and the tribal belt, the US ambassador, Anne Patterson, wrote in September 2009.
US 'kept Pakistani army Swat murders secret' | World news | guardian.co.uk