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The US Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan announced that they will suspend the training of 1,000 Afghani local policemen. The plan is being enacted to give more time for investigation of possible recruit ties to the Taliban.
The move comes after a spate of “insider attacks,” where a Taliban fighter dressed as an Afghan security official has attacked international troops, or has been convinced by a Taliban member to attack those training him.
The statement, from the spokesman of Colonel Thomas Collins, took pains to express the rarity of such attacks, saying, “Special Operations Forces has a strong and trusted relationship with its Afghan partners that has endured more than a decade. Despite the recent rise in insider attacks, they are relatively rare among SOF partnered forces.”
According to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Casualty Reports, in the last month alone at least 12 ISAF soldiers have been killed in at least six separate insider attacks, with many more incidents currently under investigation.
