Taliban behind a quarter of Afghan "insider" attacks - general
Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:23pm GMT
By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. general leading NATO forces in Afghanistan
acknowledged on Thursday that the Taliban could be traced to more "insider
attacks" against Western troops than previously acknowledged, accounting for
about a quarter of the cases.
The increasing number of killings of NATO soldiers by Afghan security
forces, or those impersonating them, have eroded trust between Western
forces and their Afghan allies and threaten to complicate plans for a
transition to Afghan security within two years.
Last week, the Pentagon, citing NATO data, said only about 11 percent of
so-called "insider attacks" by Afghans against NATO troops are due to
Taliban infiltration, with the rest caused by other motives, such as
personal grudges.
But Marine General John Allen said the figure was actually closer to 25
percent.
"Our view is it's about 25 percent," Allen said. "If it's just pure Taliban
infiltration, that is one number. If you add to that impersonation, the
potential that someone is pulling the trigger because the Taliban have
coerced the family members, that's a different number."
Allen's NATO-led force later issued a clarification, suggesting that Allen's
data and the 11 percent figure did not contradict each other, however it did
not provide a year-by-year breakdown.
It said Allen was referring to data going back to 2007. The lower figure
released last week looked only at insider attacks that occurred so far in
2012, NATO said in a statement distributed by the Pentagon.
There have been 32 insider attacks so far this year involving 36 shooters
that have led to 40 coalition deaths, with 25 of them Americans. Some 69
coalition troops have been wounded. That is a sharp increase from 2011,
when, during the whole year, 35 coalition troops were killed in such
attacks, 24 of whom were U.S. troops.
Many of the attacks have been claimed by the Taliban as evidence of
insurgent reach and infiltration.
Allen declined comment on Afghan claims that foreign spies were the biggest
culprits.
In a video briefing from Kabul, he said he wanted to see the intelligence
supporting remarks by Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office that foreign
spies were behind most of the attacks, including those from "neighbouring
countries" - an allusion to Pakistan and Iran.
"I'm looking forward to Afghanistan providing us with the intelligence that
permits them to come to that conclusion," Allen said, adding he "could add
that into our analysis."
Allen said he could not provide his opinion about the claim until he saw
that intelligence. But his comments did not appear to endorse the Afghan
government's view. Allen insisted the attacks defied simple explanation,
saying "the reason for these attacks are very complex."
Allen said he did not believe the spate of insider attacks should prompt
American forces to pull back in their contact with Afghans "at this
juncture."
NATO commanders have largely played down the threat of infiltration, blaming
most of the shootings on stress or personal differences between Afghans and
their Western advisers that ended at the point of a gun, a frequent
occurrence in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon announced last week it was expanding counterintelligence staff
in Afghanistan and the Afghan government said on Wednesday it would
re-examine the files of 350,000 of its soldiers and police to help curb
rogue shootings of NATO personnel.
(Editing by Warren Strobel and Vicki Allen)
C Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
------------[ Sent via the dehai-wn mailing list by dehai.org]--------------
Received on Thu Aug 23 2012 - 18:34:10 EDT
