Two ISAF soldiers were killed today, apparently by a member of the Afghan Border Police, in the northern province of Faryab. From the ISAF press release:
Afghan and International Security Assistance Forces are investigating a shooting incident in Faryab province today that led to the deaths of two ISAF service members.
According to initial reporting, an individual in an Afghan Border Police uniform fired on the ISAF members inside a compound. The individual who fired the shots fled the scene.
The BBC provides the details of two accounts of the attack:
There are differing accounts about what exactly happened on Monday. It is unclear if the gunman was a policeman or an insurgent dressed in police uniform. It is thought to have happened in the provincial capital, Maymana.
The soldiers had gone to a meeting at the border police post. A man in a watch tower overlooking the entrance to the base is reported to have opened fire on them and subsequently fled.
Another account from a local Afghan official says that shots were fired from a nearby house and the officer at the checkpoint ran away at that point, the BBC’s Paul Wood in Kabul reports.
Attacks by Taliban fighters who have infiltrated the Afghan National Army or police forces are far too frequent. [See LWJ report, Afghan ‘policeman’ kills 6 ISAF soldiers for a list of such attacks from July to November 2010; during that time period, 13 ISAF soldiers and two British civilian trainers were killed.]
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2 Comments
The only reason we are there is because of al Qaeda and the scary possibility of their getting their hands on nukes. Both of these problems are centered on Pakistan, and until we deal with the central problem of Pakistan being a failed state and its army being an institutional sponsor of terrorism, ISAF troops will continue to die needlessly. Nation building is not our goal, much as we would like to see a stable democratic and civilized Afghanistan and Pakistan. Containing al Qaeda (and associated splinter groups like the LeT) and keeping them away from materials of mass destruction would be sufficient to protect our citizens, which is our first and only priority.
@Charu
Al Qaida does not need nukes to to inflict mass casualties. I would not downplay the Taliban problem. Islamist extremists are a problem regardless of the border that they are in. If they come into power again, then Al Qaida or anyone else that wants to partake in Jihad has an open training ground. The Taliban are also very guilty of grotesque crimes against humanity. I still see Pakistan as the true source of the problem but the Afghanistan mission is still very critical. Democracy was a bad idea there but nonetheless it is a mess that we need to see through to the end.
Grim