Afghan woman cop shoots dead foreign adviser at HQ
25 Dec 2012 6:31 AM IST
In the first ‘insider’ attack to be carried out by a woman, a female Afghan police officer on Monday shot dead a foreign civilian adviser in Kabul police headquarters, officials said, It is the latest in a series of insider attacks that have seriously undermined trust between NATO forces and their Afghan allies in the fight against hardline Islamist Taliban insurgents.
A spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the victim, a civilian adviser, died of his wounds and the female police officer who shot him had been detained.
Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Seidiqqi, confirmed the incident and said an investigation was under way. A senior security official said the victim was a male adviser from NATO and the incident took place at Kabul police headquarters.
The officer was arrested by her other colleagues after the shooting, the official said. NATO is aiming to train 350,000 Afghan soldiers and police by the end of 2014 as it transfers all security responsibilities to President Hamid Karzai’s local forces. The Afghan conflict has seen a surge in insider attacks this year, with more than 50 ISAF troops killed by their colleagues in the Afghan army and police.
NATO says about 25 per cent of the attacks are caused by Taliban infiltrators but the rest stem from personal animosities and cultural differences between Western troops and their Afghan allies. In the most recent previous attack, a British soldier was killed by an Afghan soldier on a base in the country’s restive south on 11 November. The unprecedented number of attacks, referred to as ‘green-on-blue’ by the military, comes at a critical moment in the 11-year war, as NATO troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2014. NATO top brass have admitted the seriousness of the phenomenon.
ISAF commander General John Allen has said that just as homemade bombs were the signature weapon of the Iraq war, in Afghanistan ‘the signature attack that we’re beginning to see is going to be the insider attack’.
Efforts to tackle the issue include orders that NATO soldiers working with Afghan forces should be armed and ready to fire at all times, even within their tightly protected bases, and the issuing of cultural guidelines. The insider attacks have added to growing opposition to the war in many Western countries providing troops to the US-led NATO force.
US NAVY PROBES SUICIDE OF SEAL OFFICER
The US Navy is investigating the death of a top SEAL officer in Afghanistan as an apparent suicide, CNN reported. The Pentagon said Commander Job Price, 42, did not die in combat, and that his death is under investigation. Price, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died Saturday of a ‘non-combat related injury while supporting stability operations in (central) Uruzgan province, Afghanistan,’ a Defense Department statement said. It said Price was assigned to a Naval Special Warfare unit in Virginia Beach, Virginia. CNN and NBC News reported that Price commanded SEAL Team 4, one of eight SEAL team deployments.
The family has been notified of the death, which is being investigated as an apparent suicide, a US military official with direct knowledge of the event told CNN.
A spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the victim, a civilian adviser, died of his wounds and the female police officer who shot him had been detained.
Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Seidiqqi, confirmed the incident and said an investigation was under way. A senior security official said the victim was a male adviser from NATO and the incident took place at Kabul police headquarters.
The officer was arrested by her other colleagues after the shooting, the official said. NATO is aiming to train 350,000 Afghan soldiers and police by the end of 2014 as it transfers all security responsibilities to President Hamid Karzai’s local forces. The Afghan conflict has seen a surge in insider attacks this year, with more than 50 ISAF troops killed by their colleagues in the Afghan army and police.
NATO says about 25 per cent of the attacks are caused by Taliban infiltrators but the rest stem from personal animosities and cultural differences between Western troops and their Afghan allies. In the most recent previous attack, a British soldier was killed by an Afghan soldier on a base in the country’s restive south on 11 November. The unprecedented number of attacks, referred to as ‘green-on-blue’ by the military, comes at a critical moment in the 11-year war, as NATO troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2014. NATO top brass have admitted the seriousness of the phenomenon.
ISAF commander General John Allen has said that just as homemade bombs were the signature weapon of the Iraq war, in Afghanistan ‘the signature attack that we’re beginning to see is going to be the insider attack’.
Efforts to tackle the issue include orders that NATO soldiers working with Afghan forces should be armed and ready to fire at all times, even within their tightly protected bases, and the issuing of cultural guidelines. The insider attacks have added to growing opposition to the war in many Western countries providing troops to the US-led NATO force.
US NAVY PROBES SUICIDE OF SEAL OFFICER
The US Navy is investigating the death of a top SEAL officer in Afghanistan as an apparent suicide, CNN reported. The Pentagon said Commander Job Price, 42, did not die in combat, and that his death is under investigation. Price, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died Saturday of a ‘non-combat related injury while supporting stability operations in (central) Uruzgan province, Afghanistan,’ a Defense Department statement said. It said Price was assigned to a Naval Special Warfare unit in Virginia Beach, Virginia. CNN and NBC News reported that Price commanded SEAL Team 4, one of eight SEAL team deployments.
The family has been notified of the death, which is being investigated as an apparent suicide, a US military official with direct knowledge of the event told CNN.
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