A man dressed in an Afghan Border Police uniform killed six ISAF soldiers during training in the east before being killed himself, the International Security Assistance Force reported today.
“An individual in an Afghan Border Police uniform turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Forces during a training mission today, killing six service members in eastern Afghanistan,” ISAF stated in a press release. The identities and nationalities of the ISAF soldiers were not disclosed, nor was the exact location of the attack.
It is unclear if the attacker was a Taliban fighter who infiltrated the training, an Afghan police recruit planted or turned by the Taliban, or a disgruntled policeman. ISAF has begun an investigation into the deaths of the soldiers.
The Taliban have not released a statement claiming credit for the attack at this time.
The Taliban have killed several ISAF trainers and soldiers in similar attacks over the years. In July, Taliban fighters who infiltrated the police and Afghan Army killed three British soldiers, two US civilian trainers, and an Afghan soldier in separate attacks in Helmand and Balkh. In August, a police trainee opened fire on and killed two Spanish troops and their interpreter in western Afghanistan. The Taliban took credit for the attack. And earlier this month, two US Marines were killed by an Afghan soldier in Helmand.
Today’s attack takes place just two days after two Taliban suicide bombers dressed as Afghan police officers penetrated security at a police headquarters and training facility in Paktika province, also in the east. The suicide bombers killed 12 Afghan policemen in the attack. It is unclear if the suicide bombers were actual policemen or if they penetrated security.
ISAF has stepped up its training of Afghan soldiers and police in an effort to rapidly grow the Afghan National Security Forces. NATO has pledged to begin the handover of security responsibilities to the ANSF in 2014. The rapid growth of the ANSF has given the Taliban opportunity to more easily infiltrate security forces.
14 Comments
China is the real problem. Read the interesting study…
http://southasiaanalysis.org/papers42/paper4198.html
Plus do not forget that Pakistan is China’s pet. It is doing the same thing in Central and SouthAsia what N.Korea is doing in East Asia. Bring down China and all troubles will end. How? First of all, recognize China as the real enemy – not a business or strategic partner! All things automatically become clear….
These are always tragic incidences but unfortunately unavoidable when building up the Afghan police and army forces at such an accelerated rate. It just takes one murder punk to create havoc as was demonstrated with the two “Hasans” – the guy at Ft. Hood and that guy Akbar from the 82nd in Kuwait who killed some officers on the eve of our Iraqi invasion.
This happened in Iraq during our embed efforts as well. What we need to see is an outpouring of support and condolences by Afghan authorities, from Karzai on down as we received from the Iraqi authorities when these events happened there.
Correction: Akbar was with 101st, not 82nd.
We should be getting ready to leave the sinkhole that is Afghanistan. It is a waste of blood and treasure. When you have to bring in every bullet, gallon of gas, and roll of toilet paper, all through enemy territory, it is not a sustainable venture. We are not going to turn these people. That is going to take generations and is something we simply cannot afford. Iraq was a different story and a different battlefield. Leave Afghanistan tomorrow!
@Tim, agreed! China is the fulcrum of this evil axis with Pakistan and North Korea at the apexes. North Korea’s recent disclosure of enrichment facilities of Pakistani design only cements the view that China facilitates both rogue countries in order to destabilize and thereby dominate south and south-east Asia. Some day it will come out that Iran’s centrifuges got a lot more help from China and Pakistan than currently believed. And China doesn’t only foster dangerous rogue behavior by proxy; the recent Wikileaks indicate that it was directly involved in global cyber-terrorism. This report only ratchets up deep suspicion about China’s recent rerouting of internet traffic through its servers. The world will soon need to pool its intellectual resources to battle China in the global war against cyber-terrorism. Boycott Chinese goods!
@Tim, agreed! China is the fulcrum of this evil axis with Pakistan and North Korea at the apexes. North Korea’s recent disclosure of enrichment facilities of Pakistani design only cements the view that China facilitates both rogue countries in order to destabilize and thereby dominate south and south-east Asia. Some day it will come out that Iran’s centrifuges got a lot more help from China and Pakistan than currently believed. And China doesn’t only foster dangerous rogue behavior by proxy; the recent Wikileaks indicate that it was directly involved in global cyber-terrorism. This report only ratchets up deep suspicion about China’s recent rerouting of internet traffic through its servers. The world will soon need to pool its intellectual resources to battle China in the global war against cyber-terrorism. Boycott Chinese goods!
I’ve never understood why we call cowards suicide bombers. They are, actually, homicide bombers, aren’t they?
The Afghan Border Police (ABP) are the most neglected ANSF organization in that country. They do not recieve the same mentoring teams as the ANA or ANP. Their government often leaves them undermanned, underequipped, and underled. That being said, they have more TICs than the rest of the ANSF. Being stuck out on border OPs without proper leadership and oversight, it is easy for the Anti Afghan Forces (AAF) to approach and influence them. They are easy pickin’s for the carrot/stick technique. I can see the dialogue:”Look…your own government and ISAF don’t respect you and neglect you…Help us out and we will give you everything you need…refuse our help, and we will kill you all…and nobody will care except Allah.”
This might have been an isolated case of someone who was having emotional/maritial problems while carrying a AK47:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/world/asia/01afghan.html?ref=world
For perspective, these collective “fragging” incidents in a country of 25 million are less likely than getting murdered in Detroit, MI:
http://www.forbes.com/2007/11/08/murder-city-danger-forbeslife-cx_de_1108murder.html
But this does not make the families of all of the fallen feel any better, and our hearts go out to them.
I know this is unsourced, but if true, an interesting insight into what happened prior to the shooting.
StrategyPage: The Loneliness Of The Solitary Suicide Shooter
This is a real tragedy that I bet was avoidable. Wouldn
A quick note on “handing out ammo at the end of training”…More than likely, these soldiers were assisting the Afghans who were currently manning a Border OP. These men were already armed and loaded. My unit made several trips out to ABP border posts to work with them on general concepts like position improvement, weapons maintenance, etc. I am of a particular mindset that I have NEVER trusted my security to others and I don’t trust non-US people armed with rifles and live rounds. I pushed this mentality upon my soldiers. Maybe I got lucky or maybe the threat posture of my men and I presented an obstacle to those who would consider attacking us from within. No matter how you look at this, it was a terrible act and these soldiers were caught unaware and less than ready for such an immediate threat…When in doubt, trust nobody outside of your fold where guns and bullets are concerned…always be ready to respond to whomever and whatever, regardless of what type of “allied uniform” is being worn. May God bless these soldier’s souls and their families…
I have to agree that the Chinese are closer to PAK than we think, and they know that 10 yrs of war has weakened us economically. The Chinese have exploited the greed of the robber-barons, we all know the story, the PLA arms itself with our $$. Cheap goods, and the ability to cause the US major problems. Wat a sad state of affairs..
one of the young soldied name matthew was my friends cousin. RIP. Pakistan is a terrorist factory.