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| Afghan Officers, Said to Be Working for Taliban, Kill 11 of Their Police Colleagues | Afghan Officers, Said to Be Working for Taliban, Kill 11 of Their Police Colleagues |
| (21 days later) | |
| KABUL, Afghanistan — Two attacks by Afghan police officers who were collaborating with the Taliban claimed the lives of 11 police officers in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials reported. News of the so-called insider attacks came as the authorities were still grappling with the assassination one day earlier of an American general by an Afghan soldier. | |
| In one attack, a police officer secretly working for the Taliban poisoned five colleagues at a compound in southern Afghanistan, then invited insurgents inside to shoot the stricken officers to death and steal their weapons, the officials said. | In one attack, a police officer secretly working for the Taliban poisoned five colleagues at a compound in southern Afghanistan, then invited insurgents inside to shoot the stricken officers to death and steal their weapons, the officials said. |
| Gulab Khan, the provincial head of criminal investigations, said the other assault targeted a national police checkpoint on the outskirts of Tarin Kowt, the capital of Uruzgan Province, where Taliban fighters killed the guard on duty, then executed five others as they slept. One officer, believed to be in league with the insurgents, escaped with the militant fighters, according to Doost Mohammad Nayab, the spokesman for the provincial governor. | Gulab Khan, the provincial head of criminal investigations, said the other assault targeted a national police checkpoint on the outskirts of Tarin Kowt, the capital of Uruzgan Province, where Taliban fighters killed the guard on duty, then executed five others as they slept. One officer, believed to be in league with the insurgents, escaped with the militant fighters, according to Doost Mohammad Nayab, the spokesman for the provincial governor. |
| Mr. Khan said the killing of Afghan forces by their colleagues was an increasingly urgent problem as the American-led foreign forces prepare to wind down their presence in the country’s 13-year war, leaving the Afghan government to fight the insurgents on its own. | Mr. Khan said the killing of Afghan forces by their colleagues was an increasingly urgent problem as the American-led foreign forces prepare to wind down their presence in the country’s 13-year war, leaving the Afghan government to fight the insurgents on its own. |
| “If we have local police who are easily switching to the Taliban, soon the aftermath will be grave and will pose a big threat to the Afghan government,” he said. | “If we have local police who are easily switching to the Taliban, soon the aftermath will be grave and will pose a big threat to the Afghan government,” he said. |
| The assaults on the police came a day after a devastating attack by an Afghan soldier on high-ranking American and Afghan officers that killed Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, the first United States Army general killed in an overseas conflict since the Vietnam War. The soldier opened fire on the officers at the country’s premier military academy, on the outskirts of Kabul, wounding at least 15 others before he was killed. | The assaults on the police came a day after a devastating attack by an Afghan soldier on high-ranking American and Afghan officers that killed Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, the first United States Army general killed in an overseas conflict since the Vietnam War. The soldier opened fire on the officers at the country’s premier military academy, on the outskirts of Kabul, wounding at least 15 others before he was killed. |
| The Afghan Ministry of Defense identified the soldier as Rafiullah, from the Jani Khel district of Paktika Province, an insurgent hotbed in eastern Afghanistan. The ministry said that Rafiullah, who had only one name, had been serving at the academy, raising new questions about the vetting process. | The Afghan Ministry of Defense identified the soldier as Rafiullah, from the Jani Khel district of Paktika Province, an insurgent hotbed in eastern Afghanistan. The ministry said that Rafiullah, who had only one name, had been serving at the academy, raising new questions about the vetting process. |
| Cases in which Afghan security forces have turned their weapons on advisers in the American-led coalition here have declined sharply in the past year after reaching a crisis level a few years ago, with new practices instituted to protect soldiers. Killings of Afghan soldiers and officers by their colleagues, however, have remained far more common, amplifying what has already been a particularly violent summer for Taliban attacks. | Cases in which Afghan security forces have turned their weapons on advisers in the American-led coalition here have declined sharply in the past year after reaching a crisis level a few years ago, with new practices instituted to protect soldiers. Killings of Afghan soldiers and officers by their colleagues, however, have remained far more common, amplifying what has already been a particularly violent summer for Taliban attacks. |
| Exact casualty figures for Afghan security forces are difficult to ascertain. The Ministries of Defense and Interior, which oversee the army and the police, no longer release the data publicly. | Exact casualty figures for Afghan security forces are difficult to ascertain. The Ministries of Defense and Interior, which oversee the army and the police, no longer release the data publicly. |
| Taliban insurgents have been attacking areas previously considered relatively safe while operating with impunity from stretches of the country that were once contested. While some Western officials say internal data suggest that violence is down from a year ago, other indications, including a recent United Nations report on civilian casualties, contradict that assertion. | Taliban insurgents have been attacking areas previously considered relatively safe while operating with impunity from stretches of the country that were once contested. While some Western officials say internal data suggest that violence is down from a year ago, other indications, including a recent United Nations report on civilian casualties, contradict that assertion. |