| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| AfghanistanÂ’s Soldiers Step Up Killings of Allied Forces |
| 2012-01-20 |
| American and other coalition forces here are being killed in increasing numbers by the very Afghan soldiers they fight alongside and train, in attacks motivated by deep-seated animosity between the supposedly allied forces, according to American and Afghan officers and a classified coalition report obtained by The New York Times. A decade into the war in Afghanistan, the report makes clear that these killings have become the most visible symptom of a far deeper ailment plaguing the war effort: the contempt each side holds for the other, never mind the Taliban. The ill will and mistrust run deep among civilians and militaries on both sides, raising questions about what future role the United States and its allies can expect to play in Afghanistan. Underscoring the danger, four NATO service members were killed and a number were wounded on Friday when a gunman wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon on them, according to an Afghan police official in Kapisa Province in eastern Afghanistan where the incident occurred and a Western official in Kabul, who sopke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. The Afghan police official, Asdullah Hamidi, said the shooting happened in Tagab District, an area that is viewed as dangerous and dominated by insurgent forces. French soldiers make up the majority of the forces operating in the area. The gunman is in custody, a NATO official said. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #1 It is the incredibly important role of "friendly forces management" that keeps this kind of crap down to a minimum. This essentially means that counterintelligence has to work hand in glove with allied personnel management, to carefully screen out the untrustworthy and to insure that morale is maintained. After an incident like this, there should be a unit observation, with lots of interviews about the shooter, who his friends were, did they know and if they did, why they didn't inform on him to their supervisor. Whenever a US unit has an event like this, we do it to our own people, so doing it to allied forces should be pro forma. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2012-01-20 09:21 |