British troops also killed by ‘partners’ among Afghan troops and police. At ‘joint' outposts, huge concrete barriers have been erected to separate American troops from American trained Afghan troops.
CARRY YOUR GUNS AT ALL TIMES, BRITISH TROOPS ARE ORDERED: AFGHAN ‘TRAITOR’ KILLINGS TRIGGER SECURITY BLITZ
By Ian Drury
Mail Online
October 2, 2012
British troops are carrying loaded weapons at all times inside Camp Bastion to protect themselves against insider attacks by rogue Afghan soldiers and policemen.
Servicemen and women moving around Britain’s main base in Afghanistan have been told to carry their personal firearm following a spate of ‘green on blue’ murders, in which allied troops are killed by the local forces they are training.
US General John Allen, the top soldier in the warzone, is understood to have issued a fresh directive to coalition forces at all bases in the country in mid-August.
Precautions were originally bolstered in the spring after US defence secretary Leon Panetta was the target of a suicide attack at Camp Bastion by an Afghan worker driving a stolen vehicle.
This year, rogue security forces have killed more than 51 coalition troops – including nine British servicemen.
A serving British soldier told the Mail: ‘Whether we’re going to the canteen or out for a run, we have to have a loaded weapon with us so we are able to react in an instant.
Some see it as an inconvenience but safety and security is paramount.’
Camp Bastion, in Helmand province, is home to most of the 9,500 UK troops in Afghanistan and thousands of local employees and contractors.
Afghan forces are not allowed inside with a weapon.
Details about the latest directive emerged as the head of Nato admitted that insider attacks were sapping morale and had damaged relations between international forces and the Afghan police and military.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato’s secretary-general, said: ‘There is no doubt that insider attacks have undermined trust and confidence, absolutely.
‘It is safe to say that a significant part of the insider attacks are due to Taliban tactics.
Political leaders in the capitals of troop-contributing countries know very well that this is part of a tactic or strategy to undermine public and political support at home.’
Training and mentoring Afghan forces is the key plank of Nato’s exit strategy from Afghanistan.
The aim is to build a force of around 350,000 soldiers and policemen so the Afghans can take responsibility for the country’s security by the end of 2014.
To build bonds between the forces, they live, work and sleep together in small bases.
But the danger has increased as insurgents have infiltrated Afghan ranks and the Taliban has encouraged them to kill their international mentors.
The recent release of an anti-Islam film made in the US has also fuelled anger among Afghans.
Last month father-of-two Sergeant Gareth Thursby, 29, and Private Tom Wroe, 18, both of the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment, were murdered by an Afghan policeman who feigned injury at a checkpoint in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand.
The attacks have prompted Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) to scale back joint missions.
Coalition troops will only train, mentor and fight alongside Afghan soldiers and policemen in small groups if the operation is rubber-stamped by regional commanders.
Isaf said the measure was ‘prudent, but temporary, to reduce our profile and vulnerability to insider attacks’.
Mr Rasmussen raised the prospect of withdrawing Western forces from Afghanistan faster than expected but stressed this was not a ‘race for the exits’.
Combat operations will cease by the end of 2014 but the training mission will continue.
He said: ‘Our troops can redeploy, take on other tasks, or even withdraw, or we can reduce the number of foreign troops.
‘If the security situation allows, I would not exclude the possibility that in certain areas you could accelerate the process.’
No comments:
Post a Comment