U.S. Military Bracing For A Surge In Taliban ‘Insider’ Attacks

Photo: International Business Times/Angelo Young

Threat From Within -- Washington Free Beacon

U.S. military braced for surge in Taliban ‘insider’ attacks after recent statement

Taliban insurgents recently vowed to carry out new “infiltration” attacks aimed at killing and demoralizing U.S., allied, and Afghan military forces as part of the spring military offensive, according to U.S. officials.

The expected increase in what the Pentagon calls “insider” attacks by Taliban sympathizers or infiltrators followed an April 27 statement by the Islamist terror group.

It was the first time the Taliban identified insider attacks as a key tactic.

U.S. military officials have said the Taliban shifted to insider attacks as U.S. and allied forces became more adept at countering improvised explosive devices—deadly roadside bombs that have killed and injured hundreds during the 12-year war.

Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Bill Speaks said the military is aware of the threat.

Read more ....

My Comment: The screening process has changed .... so this Taliban tactic will probably not be as effective as it was before. At least I hope so.

Are Insider Attacks Down In Afghanistan?

Why Insider Attacks Are Down In Afghanistan -- Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor

No one claims the problem is solved, but officials are cautiously hopeful that the lower number of 'green-on-blue' killings in Afghanistan this year means preventive measures are having an impact.

The gunfire that pierced the night in Afghanistan’s Zabul Province last September was a troubling surprise to the 20 US soldiers manning a fortified checkpoint near the Pakistan border.

Before long, the soldiers would know the terrifying truth: that it was Afghan police officers who, after climbing the wall of a hillside observation post assigned to keeping an eye out for Taliban movement, had emptied their weapons on their American comrades inside.

That night, four Americans died at the hands of their Afghan assailants, making it the deadliest of a string of insider attacks that added up to the worst year for what the military calls “green-on-blue” violence of the Afghanistan war. Last year 61 international forces – at least 34 of them Americans – were killed by Afghan security forces, nearly half of the 132 killed by insider attacks since 2008.

Read more ....

My Comment: It is too early to beat one's chest and proclaim that "insider attacks" are down in Afghanistan .... waaaayyyyy too early.

When Your Allies Are Your Enemies

Spc. Josh Nelson of Greenville was one of four soldiers killed in September in the worst green-on-blue attack of the year in Afghanistan, as Americans were preparing to hand over a small outpost in the Zabul Province to Afghan forces. Courtesy of the Nelson family

NC Soldier Betrayed By Afghans He Was There To Help -- Newsobserver.com

The killers bided their time for days, then weeks, patiently waiting for a moment when the American soldiers were vulnerable.

It came, finally, in the early hours of Sept. 16. Four cavalry soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Wash., and two communications specialists from Fort Gordon, Ga., had an overnight assignment at a hillside observation point in the Mizan District of Zabul Province near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan. They watched a valley they suspected enemy fighters were using to lob mortars into the soldiers’ small forward base a mile away.

About 20 more members of their platoon rested in a fortified checkpoint a quarter-mile distant; some were sleeping.

The soldiers’ thermal imaging scopes let their eyes cut through the dark for several hundred yards. It was a huge nighttime advantage over their enemies.

Read more ....

My Comment: Stories like this one always makes my blood boil. My prayers and sympathies are with the families who lost their loved ones in this (and other) attacks.

Another Insider Attack Kills Two U.S. Soldiers In Afghanistan

U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. David Romero, right, points out an enemy position to U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kody King during Operation Bullseye in Kajaki in Afghanistan's Helmand province, Feb. 27, 2013. Romero, a combined anti-armor team section leader, and King, a machine gunner, are assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Kowshon Ye

US Troops Killed In Afghan 'Insider Attack' -- BBC

Several US and Afghan commandos have been shot dead in a so-called insider attack, US and Afghan sources say.

Several others were wounded in the attack at a remote military base in Wardak province, not far from Kabul.

The US military called the attack a "betrayal". The killer - a member of the Afghan security forces - was shot dead at the scene.

Last year more than 60 Nato troops were killed by Afghan security personnel or insurgents posing as them.

The gunman - a member of the Afghan army or police - opened fire as US special forces and Afghan commandos held an early morning meeting.

Two US soldiers were among those killed, the US military said.

Read more ....

More News On Another Insider Attack That Kills 2 U.S. Soldiers In Afghanistan

Two U.S. soldiers killed in "insider" attack in Afghanistan -- Reuters
Insider attack in Afghanistan kills 2 US troops, 2 Afghan policemen; attacker dies -- Washington Post/AP
Gunman in Afghan police uniform kills 2 U.S. troops -- L.A. Times
2 Americans among those killed in Afghan attack -- CNN
'Insider' attack kills two U.S. troops and three Afghan policeman in eastern Afghanistan -- Daily Mail
Man in Afghan army uniform kills 2 U.S. soldiers, 3 Afghan police -- Xinhuanet (China)

Ex-Afghan Soldier: His Proudest Day Was When He Opened Fire And Killed A U.S. Trainer

Mahmood is shown being welcomed by the Taliban after he opened fire on American trainers in Kunar Province. Video Image via Site Monitoring Service

Insider Attacks In Afghanistan Shape The Late Stages Of A War -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — It was only after the young Afghan soldier’s hatred of Americans had grown murderous that he reached out to the Taliban.

The soldier, named simply Mahmood, 22, said that in May he told the insurgents of his plan to shoot Americans the next time they visited the outpost where he was based in northeastern Afghanistan. He asked the Taliban to take him in if he escaped.

The Taliban veterans he contacted were skeptical. Despite their public insistence that they employ vast ranks of infiltrators within the Afghan Army and the police, they acknowledged that many of the insider attacks they take credit for start as offers by angry young men like Mahmood. They had seen many fail, or lose their nerve before even starting, and they figured that Mahmood, too, would prove more talk than action or would die in the attempt.

Read more ...

My Comment: Apparently the Pentagon has a plan to stop such 'green on blue' attacks .... but I doubt that a Power-Point presentation will do it.

Recent Afghan Police Trap Reveals How ‘Insider Attacks’ Work

Photo released by the Afghan Interior Ministry on December 25, 2012 shows Afghan interior minister Mujtaba Patang (L) congratulating police officer Beyar Khan Weyaar at the interior ministry in Kabul. The Taliban believed Weyaar was the perfect candidate to prepare an insider attack on Afghan police, but instead he set a daring trap that has given a rare insight into suicide bombing tactics.

Policeman Wreaks Revenge On Taliban Bombers Who Tried To Bribe Him -- The Australian

FOR an Afghan policeman paid $240 a month, the offer might have been too good to refuse: a one-off job that promised $50,000, two new cars and a luxury house in Pakistan.

Yet it was a proposition that Beyar Khan Weyaar said he never contemplated accepting. The offer was said to be coming from the feared commander of the Haqqani network, which is linked to the Taliban, and the mission had the trademark brutality of the terrorist group.

Mr Weyaar, 40, was told that the rewards would be his if he would help to get six suicide bombers and an explosives-laden truck into the compound of the government headquarters of Paktika province. The target was the governor and the police chief, though the bomb was big enough to take out a whole block.

Read more ....

Update #1: Police trap reveals how Afghan ‘insider attacks’ work -- Daily Times
Update #2: Afghan Police Trap Reveals How 'Insider Attacks' Actually Work -- Business Insider/AFP

My Comment: I have never heard of anyone getting paid that type of money in Afghanistan for aiding an "insider attack". The Haqqani network was appealing to his greed .... and he was smart enough to not take it.

A U.S.-Allied ISAF Soldier Training Afghan Soldiers Is One Of The Most Dangerous Jobs In The World

U.S. Soldiers Murdered At Alarming Rate -- WND

New calculations from WND columnist Diana West suggest the most dangerous murder rate in the world exists not in war-torn Africa or drug-ravaged Columbia, but among U.S.-allied troops being killed by Afghan “friendly” forces.

More than 60 cases of Afghan “allies” murdering members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, were reported in 2012, a rise from 35 so-called “green-on-blue” killings in 2011.

Thus far, the White House has dismissed the killings as few and unrelated, despite rising numbers and repeated claims from the Taliban that the murders are part of an organized campaign to infiltrate the Afghan-Western alliance.

Read more ....

My Comment: I suspect that this number is actually higher, and that incidences of "near misses" are not reported.

Insider Attacks Are Also Plaguing The Afghan Police Force

Afghan and coalition service members prepare to participate in a security transition ceremony on Camp Sayar in Farah City, Afghanistan, Dec. 12, 2012. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Matthew Stroup

Betrayed While Asleep, Afghan Police Die at Hands of Their Countrymen -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — A wave of betrayal has left at least 17 Afghan policemen dead in the past 10 days — all killed in their sleep, at the hands of those close to them.

Early Thursday morning, an Afghan policeman unlocked the door of the check post where he was stationed in Oruzgan Province and let in his friends from the Taliban, who helped him attack his sleeping colleagues with knives and guns, eventually killing four and wounding eight.

On Sunday, a local police commander in a remote northern province, Jawzjan, shot to death, in their beds, five men under his command and fled to join the Taliban.

And on Dec. 18, a teenager, apparently being kept for sexual purposes by an Afghan border police commander in southern Kandahar Province, drugged the commander and the other 10 policemen at the post to put them to sleep, and then shot them all; eight died.

Read more ....

My Comment: These attacks will only undermine the Afghan security forces .... and the Taliban know this.

Why Did An Afghan Policewoman Kill An American Contractor In Afghanistan?

The daughter of Narges Rezaeimomenabad holds a picture of her mother. Photo: Reuters

Mental Illness, Poverty Haunted Afghan Policewoman Who Killed American -- Reuters

(Reuters) - The Afghan policewoman suspected of killing a U.S. contractor at police headquarters in Kabul suffered from mental illness and was driven to suicidal despair by poverty, her children told Reuters on Wednesday.

The woman was identified by authorities as Narges Rezaeimomenabad, a 40-year-old grandmother and mother of three who moved here from Iran 10 years ago and married an Afghan man.

On Monday morning, she loaded a pistol in a bathroom at the police compound, hid it in her long scarf and shot an American police trainer, apparently becoming the first Afghan woman to carry out such an attack.

Narges also tried to shoot police officials after killing the American. Luckily for them, her pistol jammed. Her husband is also under investigation.

Read more ....

My Comment: If the children are to be believed .... this Afghan policewoman was on the verge of a breakdown, and in her anger and despair made the decision to destroy as many lives as possible before ending hers. Unfortunately .... she succeeded.

Is The U.S. Military Concealing Afghan Green-On-Blue Attacks?

Green-on-blue attacks: Afghanistan: 2008–August 2012. Australian Parliament

Hitherto Unreported Insider Attack In Afghanistan Raises Questions -- Long War Journal

A newly reported insider, or green-on-blue, attack on a small command post in Afghanistan in October 2011 raises questions about the US military's approach to the security risks posed by Afghan partnering with US troops, as well as the military's reporting on such attacks.

The hitherto unreported green-on-blue attack took place on the night of Oct. 8, 2011 at a temporary US tactical command post situated within Old Corps Headquarters, an Afghan base in Kandahar City in the southern province of Kandahar, according to the Associated Press, which uncovered the details of the attack and published an account of them for the first time last week.

Read more ....

My Comment: If true .... this is a very disturbing report. It makes one wonder if there are more green-on-blue attacks that have been unreported.

The Impact Of Insider Attacks On U.S. - Afghan Soldiers

A coalition force member greets an Afghan soldier before the start of an Afghan-led joint security patrol aimed at reducing freedom of movement for the enemy in Khak-E-Safed in Afghanistan's Farah province, Oct. 30, 2012. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Pete Thibodeau

As 'Insider Attacks' Grow, So Does U.S.-Afghanistan Divide -- L.A. Times

Suspicion and resentment are rife amid the deadly attacks on U.S. troops from within the ranks of the Afghan security personnel they're training.


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Army Spc. Steve Beaty was on alert for signs of danger, well aware of a surge in attacks on U.S. troops by Afghans wearing police or army uniforms. The guard approaching him in a bulky coat, hands crossed at his waist, looked suspicious.

With the Afghan only 15 feet away, Beaty raised his M-4 rifle. It was then that the guard detonated his suicide vest, shooting ball bearings and shrapnel across a landing zone where two dozen American soldiers, CIA operatives, interpreters and Afghan intelligence officials had just arrived on two helicopters.

Read more ....

My Comment: Since the Taliban have no shortage of men who are willing to commit suicide .... the problem of insider attacks will be with us for as long as we are in Afghanistan.

How Deep Has The Taliban Infiltrated Afghanistan's Security Forces

U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Frank A. Grippe, command senior enlisted leader for U.S. Central Command, looks on as soldiers conduct atmospherics with Afghans while on a foot patrol in the Panjwai district of southern Afghanistan, Sept. 22, 2012. The soldiers are assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Matt Young

US Forces In The Dark About Taliban Infiltration In Afghanistan -- The Hill

U.S. and coalition commanders are no closer to knowing how deep the Taliban has penetrated Afghanistan’s security forces despite increased efforts to flush out infiltrators who are carrying out attacks against Americans.

"As for what percentage of the insider threat is related to infiltration or radicalization, I mean, it's really difficult to determine," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey said Thursday.

Read more ....

My Comment: I suspect that the penetration is deep and wide ranging, and senior officers are acting as if this is the case.

Another Insider Attack In Afghanistan

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. James Bates pulls security as his team loads a tactical vehicle into the cargo bay of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in the Pur Chaman district in Afghanistan's Farah province, Sept. 26, 2012. The mission marks the first time coalition forces have been to that district in more than a year. Bates is assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah, a unit of soldiers, sailors and airmen working with government and non-government agencies to improve governance and stability in the U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lovelady

5 Dead After Suspected Insider Attack In Afghanistan -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — Two days after joint operations between American and Afghan forces were said to be returning to normal, a pitched battle broke out between the two allies, killing five people, two Americans and three Afghans, Afghan officials said Sunday.

Details of what happened in the incident Saturday were scarce and contradictory, but both the governor and police chief of Wardak Province, just west of the capital Kabul, described a misunderstanding or argument leading to the incident, which occurred at a checkpoint of the Afghan National Army in the Said Abad district.

Read more ....

More News On Another Green On Blue Attack In Afghanistan

NATO soldier, civilian, killed in Afghan "insider" attack -- Reuters
American among two dead in Afghan insider attack, official says -- CNN
U.S. service member dead in Afghan insider attack -- CBS
Afghan soldier kills two Americans in new 'insider attack' - marking the 2,000th U.S. troop death in Afghanistan -- Daily Mail
Suspected insider attack kills U.S. soldier, contractor in Afghanistan -- L.A. Times
Another Blue-on-Green Attack Kills Four -- Military.com/AP
Suspected insider Afghan battle kills 5 -- UPI
Afghan insider attack kills two Americans -- The Australian
Apparent insider attack kills NATO soldier, civilian contractor in Afghanistan -- Washington Post
Afghan police, soldiers dying alongside NATO partners in insider attacks -- Washington Post/AP
Insider Attacks Hinder Transition Out Of Afghanistan -- NPR (audio)

A Window Into Afghan Insider Killings

Army Spc. Mabry Anders was killed in an attack by an Afghan army soldier in Afghanistan on August 27. Reuters

In US Soldier's Death, A Window Into Afghan Insider Killings -- NBC/Reuters

Spc. Mabry Anders, 21, had grown increasingly worried that he might not come home.

WASHINGTON/KABUL — In the weeks before his death, 21-year-old Mabry Anders had grown increasingly worried that he might not come home from Afghanistan. The Army specialist was battling insomnia and would send brief, worried messages back to his family.

"He talked to me in the day, which would be in the middle of his night," his father, Dan Anders, said. "He didn't sleep. He was just worried."

There were good reasons for concern. During his six-month tour, the Taliban staged a major attack at his base, a suicide bomber had killed one of his brigade's most revered leaders, and an Afghan villager threw a fire-bomb at a vehicle he was traveling in.

Read more ....

My Comment: Not surprisingly .... when US forces now train with their Afghan counterparts, they keep their armor on and their weapons loaded. What also does not help the situation is the realization among some in the US military that there could be up to 85,000 Taliban sympathizers within the Afghan security forces.

Photo Gallery: The 18 British Soldiers Killed By Rogue Afghan Forces

Private Thomas Wroe, 18, left, and Sergeant Gareth Thursby, 29, were shot and fatally wounded by a rogue Afghan Local Policeman in Check Point Tora in the Nahr-e-Saraj District of Helmand Province Photo: MoD

The 18 British Soldiers Killed By Rogue Afghan Forces In 'Green On Blue' Attacks -- The Telegraph

Since 2008, 18 British soldiers have been killed by allied Afghan forces or militants who have turned their weapons on Nato troops. The increasing threat of rogue soldiers has forced Nato-led troops to scale back joint patrols and change strategy.

2009 (five killed)

November: Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith, 24, Sgt Matthew Telford, 37, Guardsman Jimmy Major, 18, Warrant Officer Class One Darren Chant, 40, and Acting Corporal Steven Boote, 22, were all shot dead by a rogue Afghan policeman in Helmand Province. The soldiers, three from the Grenadier Guards and two from the Royal Military Police, had been living with the Afghan police in a compound. The officer opened fire, killing the five and injuring eight others, before he fled the compound.

Read more ....

My Comment: Our prayers are with their families and loved ones.

Chilling Account Of 'Green On Blue' Attack By Afghan Who Killed Two U.S. Soldiers

Confession: This unidentified man said that while he was being trained as a member of the Afghan Local Police in October 2009, he killed two American soldiers during an insider attack

'I Waited Until They Took Off Their Body Armor Off... And Then I Shot Them Dead:' Chilling Account Of 'Green On Blue' Attack By Afghan Who Killed Two U.S. Soldiers -- Daily Mail

* Sergeant Aaron Smith and Private First Class Brandon Owens were shot dead in 2009
* Afghan man confesses to the killings claiming he took issue with the way that Americans were treating his people
* His confession comes after increasing number of green-on-blue attacks forced NATO to suspend Afghan Local Police training
* Four American soldiers killed on Sunday and two British soldiers shot dead at checkpoint in Afghanistan on Saturday
* Intelligence sources believe most attacks are being carried out by 'lone-wolf' individuals NOT the Taliban
An Afghan man has confessed to shooting dead two American soldiers who were training him as a police officer in an attack which took place three years ago.

In a chilling and candid account, the unidentified man said he had waited until Sergeant Aaron Smith and Private First Class Brandon Owens had taken off their body armour before calmly gunning them down in Wardak Province, central Afghanistan.

His confession comes just a day after four American soldiers were gunned down by Afghan police at a checkpoint in a similar incident. The latest in a spate of so-called green-on-blue attacks.

Read more ....

My Comment: My blood boils when I read stories like this.

Slain Marine Sensed That An Insider Attack Was Coming

Slain Marine Sensed Insider Attack Was Coming, Dad Says -- CNN

Oceanside, New York (CNN) -- Deployed to a volatile outpost in southern Afghanistan where U.S. Marines routinely face a mix of skirmishes and hidden explosives, Greg Buckley Jr. sensed that an attack was imminent.

And he knew that it would come from within.

The 21-year-old Marine was posted to Garmsir in Helmand Province, where he was training local security forces as part of NATO's planned withdrawal in 2014.

It was during a static-filled phone call to his father over the summer that the Long Island native mentioned a run-in he had with an Afghan trainee while on guard duty.

Read more ....

More News On The 'Green On Blue' Death Of U.S. Marine Greg Buckley Jr.

Long Island Marine, casualty of ‘green-on-blue’ killing, forewarned of death, dad says -- New York Daily News
This 21-Year-Old Marine Predicted He Would Die At The Hands Of Afghan Security Forces -- Business Insider
'My Boy!' Emotional funeral for Marine killed by Afghan police traitor -- Daily Mail
Oceanside honors memory of war hero Greg Buckley Jr., then rallies for victory -- Newsday

NATO's Afghan Strategy At Risk After 'Insider' Attacks

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Tibben, center, provides security during a civil affairs mission in Dizak village in Afghanistan's Farah province, Sept. 12, 2012. Tibben is assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah. The team is conducting the patrol to assess living conditions and to talk to villagers about their concerns. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Benjamin Addison

Afghan Handover At Risk After Attacks -- The Australian/The Times

THE credibility of the coalition forces' handover plan for Afghanistan is under threat after the worst spate of "insider attacks" by Afghan security forces against their NATO partners.

Two British soldiers were killed and four US troops died in separate shootings by Afghan policeman over the weekend - an increasingly common tactic that military experts said was sapping morale on both sides.

Former British commanders told The Times that more NATO troops would die in similar circumstances this year and next as the Taliban stepped up a campaign to infiltrate the Afghan police and army.

Read more ....

Update: Afghanistan: Nato strategy at risk from 'insider threat' -- The Guardian

My Comment: Having soldiers killed by the soldiers that you are training just destroys morale and any sense of cooperation. As for the Taliban .... 'green on blue' attacks have become a very effective weapon for them, and I (unfortunately) will not be surprised if these type of killings will continue in the months to come.

Another Afghan Soldier Kills 3 ISAF Soldiers

3 NATO Troops Killed In Afghanistan In Apparent 'Green-On-Blue' Attack -- CNN

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Someone wearing an Afghan National Army uniform fired on NATO soldiers and killed three of them, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said Wednesday.

The shooting happened Tuesday and is under investigation, it said.

Two ISAF troops were killed in a similar attack Monday by another Afghan soldier. Fellow ISAF soldiers then shot and killed the gunman.

Read more ....

More News On Today's Killing Of 3 Afghan Soldiers

Afghan in army uniform 'kills three Nato soldiers' -- BBC
Gunman Kills 3 Coalition Troops in Southern Afghanistan -- Voice of America
Three ISAF troops killed in Afghan 'insider attack': official -- AFP
Man in Afghan uniform kills 3 NATO troops -- USA Today/AP
Afghan 'soldier' kills Nato troops -- Belfast Telegraph

Are Islamic Motivations The Reason For Green On Blue Incidents In Afghanistan?

A UH-60 Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopter lands as U.S. Army paratroopers secure the area in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, July 23, 2012. The helicopter crew is assigned to the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade. The soldiers evacuated a wounded insurgent. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Thomas Cieslak

Army Report Buried Islamic Motivations For Afghan Murders of US Troops -- Andrew G. Bostom, American Thinker

On May 12, 2011 a US Army "Red Team" issued an unclassified report which purported to explain the burgeoning rash of murderous attacks (which have since escalated even further, still) by Afghan National Army (ANA) members on US and other NATO troops.

Although the report is dominated by apologetic, cultural relativist drivel which attempts, in vain, to explain away these acts of murder committed against the US and NATO troops by their by ANA "allies," it also includes a crudely buried, sub rosa truthful narrative.

Read more ....

My Comment: I suspect that there are multiple explanations for green on blue incidents in Afghanistan .... but it would not surprise me if Islamic convictions were responsible for most of them.