Vice President Dostum Ramps Up Tensions With Kabul

First Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum has blocked Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoI) police from arresting his bodyguards.  Attorney general ordered the arrest of nine of Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum’s bodyguards on charges related to the alleged abduction and sexual assault of a political rival, who accused the vice president of sodomising him with a rifle. The Wall Street Journal reported that Dostum has blocked police from detaining his bodyguards. The report further states that Dostum’s armed bodyguards have seized checkpoints in Wazir Akbar khan hill in central Kabul. Government officials have told The Wall Street Journal that some 700 to 1,000 armed security forces are protecting Gen. Dostum in Kabul.