Zardad Faryadi Sarwar (also known as Zardad Khan and Commander Zardad), a warlord who controlled several checkpoints at the road between Kabul and Jalalabad in Afghanistan in the early 1990s, was convicted today of torture and hostage-taking. The Court at Old Bailey in London found that Zardad pursued a reign of fear along his checkpoints and ordered summary executions and torture of innocent civilians. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. Zardad fled to the UK in 1998 after he had fought both the Russians and the Taliban in Afghanistan's long civil war. He settled in a suburban London home and was first confronted by BBC Journalist John Simpson in 2000. Simpson's report sparked a lengthy investigation that would eventually lead to British prosecuters travelling to Afghanistan and questioning Zardad's victims. A first trial began in 2004 but failed because the jury couldn't agree on a verdict.
 (also known as Zardad Khan and Commander Zardad), a warlord who controlled several checkpoints at the road between and in Afghanistan in the early 1990s, was convicted today of torture and hostage-taking. The Court at in London found that Zardad pursued a reign of fear along his checkpoints and ordered summary executions and torture of innocent civilians. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. Zardad fled to the UK in 1998 after he had fought both the Russians and the Taliban in Afghanistan's long civil war. He settled in a suburban London home and was first confronted by BBC Journalist in 2000. Simpson's report sparked a lengthy investigation that would eventually lead to British prosecuters travelling to Afghanistan and questioning Zardad's victims. A first trial began in 2004 but failed because the jury couldn't agree on a verdict.
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Zardad Faryadi Sarwar
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Kabul and Jalalabad
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Old Bailey
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John Simpson