Croatian wanted on war crimes charges found in Kentucky

A woman wanted in Bosnia on torture charges stemming from the war following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia faces extradition after being arrested in Kentucky.

U.S. Marshals arrested 52-year-old Azra Basic (BOSH), who lives in Stanton, earlier this week.

The Croatian-born Basic is wanted in Bosnia on charges of committing war crimes against ethnic Serb civilians in 1992. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Arehart wrote in a complaint requesting extradition that Basic is wanted in Europe on charges of murder and torture.

Arehart says Basic is accused of killing at least one person and torturing others at three camps from April to June 1992.

Basic's attorney, Patrick Nash of Lexington, was not immediately available for comment Thursday morning.

Croatia soon to lead Afghanistan operations?

Croatia – 288 Troops are involved in three locations, as of December 2010, Croatia has 320 troops in Afghanistan, but additional platoon is on its way to bolster this number, bringing total troop numbers to 350 by the end of 2010/11. Croatian parliament voted on extra troop numbers on 7 December with all party supporting troop increase, although parliament did recognise that additional increases in troop numbers might be possible during 2011 and 2012 to help train local army and police units.

According to the Croatian Times, Croatia will host three international NATO military and Partnership for Peace programme exercises, the Croatian government has decided in a closed meeting.

Croatian soldiers will also participate in five exercises abroad, the daily newspaper Vjesnik writes.

In the same meeting, the government has also decided to send 314 Croatian soldiers on a seven-month International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission to Afghanistan.

It seems the number was not only increased, but doubled.

Footage reveals Croatian soldiers in Afghanistan in armed combat

Croatian soldiers in Afghanistan have taken part in armed combat and not only as army trainers, footage published on Croatian daily 24 Sata shows.

The footage shows Croatian soldiers fighting Taliban insurgents in some parts of Afghanistan. A vehicle with Croatian flags can be seen in the midst of a fight and one can hear voices of men speaking in Croatian.

A different feature shows a member of the Croatian Army who returned from Afghanistan confirming the authenticity of the shots. "It is not that harmless over there…I would like the people to know where they are going and what to expect," the soldier - whose identity was not revealed - said.

In the north and near Kabul where the majority of Croatian soldiers are, the situation is getting worse, says another soldier also under the protection of anonymity.



"The stay in Afghanistan is quite dangerous - especially the guys in mentoring teams who follow the Afghani military find themselves in dangerous situations, that could be deadly," the soldier said adding that he is not sure why this information is kept from the Croatian public.

Such dangerous situations are not the norm, but soldiers can easily find themselves facing one, he adds. If Croatian soldiers train some units of the Afghani military, they are not only with them in the base but they also follow them outside into the field, the daily Jutarnji List writes.