The Pentagon denies knowledge of uranium concentrate, or ‘yellow cake’, at the erstwhile U.S. Army base Karshi-Khanabad, also known as K2, in Uzbekistan, Kursiv reported. Veterans’ advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense on April 3, 2023, seeking records of toxic conditions at the Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan. The K2 is blamed for causing cancer and other illnesses among American troops who served there in support of the war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2005.
-the Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary said.
The lawsuit accuses military officials of withholding information about hazardous materials, including uranium, chemical weapons, and asbestos, that were present at K2 during U.S. operations. The contaminants included pools of “black goo” that caused military service members to pass out. The lawsuit alleges that personnel at the base became ill and died at higher-than-usual rates.
Impact on troops and call for transparency
Approximately 15,800 troops served at the base. The legal filing seeks information about the toxic substances and troop exposures so that sickened veterans can obtain accurate medical diagnoses and treatment, and healthy veterans can take any preventative actions available. A spokesperson said Monday that the Pentagon could not comment because “the issue involves litigation.”
The lawsuit was announced during a news conference at the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Also suing is the Stronghold Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit group that includes K2 veterans and relatives. The groups are represented by the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School.
Unknown truth of K2
Kim Brooks, a board member for the Stronghold Freedom Foundation, stated that the victims of K2 have been living with the effects of the base’s toxic conditions for over 20 years. Many have died as a result. However, the exact nature of the toxins at K2 remains unknown because the government refuses to release the records.
Calls for release of information
Brooks’ husband, Army Lt. Col. Timothy Brooks, died of a brain tumour in 2004, less than three years after serving at K2. She and others at the news conference, including U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, called on the federal government to release information on the K2 contamination. The foundation said the Defense Department has not fully responded to document requests under the federal Freedom of Information Act.
History of base and health impact on veterans
Before the U.S. military used Karshi-Khanabad to support missions into Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks, the base was occupied by the former Soviet military. U.S. officials said Soviet troops left behind contamination from some hazardous materials, including low-level radioactive depleted uranium from destroying missiles at the site as well as jet fuel.
Matt Erpelding, a K2 veteran and executive director of the Stronghold Freedom Foundation, said a 2015 preliminary study by the Army found that K2 veterans were five times more likely to develop cancer, compared with troops who deployed to other places. He said military personnel began showing an array of unexplained health conditions after arriving at the base.
Toll on K2 veterans
No one has exact numbers on how many K2 veterans developed cancer and how many died from it. Erpelding said at least 75 people who were at K2 and were members of the Stronghold Freedom Foundation died from 2012 to 2020, and another 10 died in the past eight months. In a 2020 survey of about 2,000 K2 veterans by the foundation, nearly 1,900 illnesses were reported, including 491 incidents of cancer. Some of those surveyed reported multiple illnesses.
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