The US military toll from insider attacks rose to 2,000 after an attack Saturday in Wardak province that killed a US soldier and a contractor. The two were apparently killed by a rogue member of the Afghan security forces.
Not only has the death toll rose to 2,000, but such attacks are now the biggest killer of foreign military forces in Afghanistan. Provincial government spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told the AP an Afghan soldier turned his gun on the Americans and started shooting, killing the two foreign forces along with three Afghan army soldiers.
The deaths followed a "verbal dispute" during a joint operation.
Attacks against US and coalition military forces by Afghan police, security, and military personnel increased sharply this year. The development threatens to undermine America's Afghanistan strategy, in which foreign forces work directly with and train their Afghan counterparts to "step up" following US withdrawal, scheduled for the end of 2014. The United States has cut back on its training missions, for a time halting them completely as recruits were re-vetted.
Hundreds of Afghan soldiers were dismissed after the US halted training missions following an inquiry.
The attacks are also forcing US soldiers on the defensive. The military implemented a "guardian angels" plan, in which foreign military personnel would remain armed and ready for attack during all interactions with their Afghan counterparts. The increasingly defensive stance--and the ill will that inevitably emerges from interactions between the two sides in charged environment--will only make differences and grievances worse. It is difficult to see how Afghans will be able to be properly trained to "step up" when such distrust and animosity holds between both sides.
The plan for withdrawal also depends on a contingent of foreign trainers remaining on the ground for years to come.
Not only has the death toll rose to 2,000, but such attacks are now the biggest killer of foreign military forces in Afghanistan. Provincial government spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told the AP an Afghan soldier turned his gun on the Americans and started shooting, killing the two foreign forces along with three Afghan army soldiers.
The deaths followed a "verbal dispute" during a joint operation.
Attacks against US and coalition military forces by Afghan police, security, and military personnel increased sharply this year. The development threatens to undermine America's Afghanistan strategy, in which foreign forces work directly with and train their Afghan counterparts to "step up" following US withdrawal, scheduled for the end of 2014. The United States has cut back on its training missions, for a time halting them completely as recruits were re-vetted.
Hundreds of Afghan soldiers were dismissed after the US halted training missions following an inquiry.
The attacks are also forcing US soldiers on the defensive. The military implemented a "guardian angels" plan, in which foreign military personnel would remain armed and ready for attack during all interactions with their Afghan counterparts. The increasingly defensive stance--and the ill will that inevitably emerges from interactions between the two sides in charged environment--will only make differences and grievances worse. It is difficult to see how Afghans will be able to be properly trained to "step up" when such distrust and animosity holds between both sides.
The plan for withdrawal also depends on a contingent of foreign trainers remaining on the ground for years to come.
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