The NATO force in Afghanistan said Monday that attacks by Afghan security personnel on their Western counterparts, while few in quite a number, have had a disproportionately large effect on troop morale.
NATO says 17 members of the international coalition was killed in 10 attacks by their Afghan counterparts since January 1. an identical choice of Afghan forces have also been killed by fellow Afghan soldiers or police.
The coalition also disputes Taliban claims of responsibility for the attacks.
Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, coalition spokesman, says the choice of attacks is really quite low on the grounds that there are 130,000 NATO troops and 350,000 Afghan forces often training together in close quarters. But he says each incident has a disproportional effect, increasing mistrust between Afghan and international forces.
"Although the incidents are small in number we're aware at the gravity they've got as an effect on morale," he said. "So therefore we're very carefully watching each incident."
Last week three coalition troops -- two British and one American -- were killed by Afghan security forces in numerous parts of the rustic. Also in Paktika province last week, Afghan officials said a member of an Afghan militia drugged his colleagues and killed a minimum of nine of them as they slept.
The Afghan Taliban often takes credit for attacks by members of the Afghan security forces, but General Jacobson says in almost every insider attack, the perpetrator was not affiliated with the insurgency.
"Our findings are that the overwhelming majority lie within the individual," he said. "Personal grievances are among the major causes, plus some of other cause including stress syndromes on soldiers who're living in a rustic that was [enduring] 30 years of war."
NATO is putting a brand new emphasis on established procedures similar to background checks for Afghan recruits, while implementing new safety features together with placing intelligence agents among troops during basic training, and assigning soldiers to protect their colleagues while they sleep.
Security has also been stepped up following the new killing of 17 Afghan civilians, purportedly by a U.S. soldier, and the inadvertent burning of Qurans at an American military base. The incidents have increased tensions between Afghan officials and the international coalition at a time when cooperation is very important as foreign troops begin withdrawing just before a 2014 deadline.
From WhatNewsToday.net
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