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Allegations made of nude employees partying at U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan.
KABUL — Eight security guards at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan were fired and two resigned following allegations of lewd behavior and sexual misconduct at their living quarters.
The Kabul senior management team of ArmorGroup North America, the private contractor that provides guards for the State Department, was also “being replaced immediately,” an embassy statement said.
The terminated guards, who left Afghanistan on Friday, all appeared in photographs depicting guards and supervisors in various stages of nudity at parties flowing with alcohol, the embassy said. Their names and nationalities were not released.
The scandal surfaced this week when an independent watchdog said the embassy guards were subjected to abuse and hazing by supervisors. The Project on Government Oversight contended the situation had led to a breakdown in morale and leadership that compromised security at the embassy in Kabul, where nearly 1,000 U.S. diplomats, staff and Afghan nationals work.
Nearly two-thirds of the 450 embassy guards are Gurkhas from Nepal and northern India who speak little English, a situation that creates communication breakdowns, the Project on Government Oversight said. Pantomime is often used to convey orders and instructions.
In at least one case, supervisors brought prostitutes into the quarters where the guards live, a serious breach of security and discipline, the watchdog said this week. In other instances, members of the guard force drew Afghans into activities forbidden by Muslims, such as drinking alcohol, it said.
On Thursday, the embassy said alcohol had been prohibited at Camp Sullivan — the offsite location where ArmorGroup guards live — and diplomatic security staff were assigned to the camp.
A State Department inspector general team arrived in Afghanistan and interviewed 50 people Friday in its investigation, spokesman Ian Kelly said.