WASHINGTON POST: Marine Gen. John R. Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, recalled all NATO personnel working in Afghan ministries in the Kabul area on Saturday after two NATO soldiers were killed by an Afghan security official inside the Interior Ministry earlier in the day.
The step was taken “for obvious force protection reasons,” Allen said in a statement that capped a week marked by escalating distrust between NATO and Afghan forces. “We are investigating the crime and will pursue all leads to find the person responsible for this attack. The perpetrator of this attack is a coward whose actions will not go unanswered.”
Fratricide has been a growing problem between Afghan soldiers and their foreign counterparts here. In the past, Western military advisers were advised to operate cautiously after such incidents, but Allen’s decision represents the first time a commander has publicly withdrawn his personnel from their posts for fear of attacks by men in Afghan uniforms… (more)
