– ROGUE AFGHAN SOLDIER KILLED 3 AUSTRALIAN TROOPS

Published August 30, 2012

Three Australian troops in NATO-ISAF in Afghanistan have been killed in an attack by a rogue member of the Afghan security forces, on Wednesday 08/29/2012 evening, officials said, in the latest insider attack, known as Green (Afghan)-on-blue (NATO) attack, that has caused growing dismay among coalition commanders. Two days earlier another 2 American soldiers were shot dead by yet another rogue Afghan security personnel (see – Nussa-Qala 08.27.12). The assault occurred in southern Uruzgan province, a USA defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. About 1,500 Australian troops are deployed in the province
(see also – Uruzgan 07.28.11 ).

NATO has struggled to counter the so-called “green-on-blue” attacks in which uniformed Afghans turn their weapons against their international allies. The assaults have spiked this year, with more than 30 attacks claiming the lives of 45 coalition troops, comprising about 14 per cent of the overall death toll in the war for 2012, according to ISAF (see – Afghan-Trend). The assaults have troubled the international force, which has portrayed its partnership with Afghan troops as the key to a planned withdrawal of foreign combat troops over the next two years.The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, US General John Allen, said last week the causes of the surge in insider attacks are varied, and that Taliban infiltration only accounts for about a quarter of the incidents. The general told reporters that the recent spate of assaults may have been related to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as he said Afghan soldiers were under strain from fasting in intense heat while engaged in combat. But the basic true is that the surge of such attacks began long before the month of Ramadan.

Giving the fact that NATO is scheduled to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 (see – Petraeus W Plan), about 2 years ahead, the corruption inside the Afghani regime, the grip of the Taliban on the rural areas of the country and the fact that many of the Afghan security members and their families will be considered soon by their neighbors as collaborators with foreign invaders, it is expected that many of the Afghan troops are trying to build an alibi for themselves, for their families and for their clans for the days after NATO will leave the country. A very similar phenomenon occurred among soldiers of the Israeli supported South Lebanese Army (SLA) when Israel prepared itself to withdraw from South Lebanon in 1999 and early 2000 . Only that Israel understood the situation and its troops in South Lebanon behaved accordingly.

* Related topics ;

08/2012 -TALIBAN’S VICTORY
08/2012 -DEEP INFILTRATION
08/2012 -AFGHAN POLICEMEN KILLED 6 FOREIGN TROOPS
07/2012 -PROMINENT AFGHAN PM AHMED KHAN KILLED BY SUICIDE BOMBER

**************************