Afghan Govt Issues Army Pamphlet to Stem Rising Green-On-Blue Attacks
The Afghan government has issued a new army manual that is hoped to narrow the cultural divide between the local security forces and members of NATO troops mentoring them.
The latest move, Defence Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi, is part of Kabul's ongoing efforts to stem the rise of green-on-blue attacks on foreign troops, which already killed scores of coalition soldiers in August alone.
Total death toll since 2011 has been placed by Reuters at 80, which includes seven Aussie Diggers, three of them shot to death by an Afghan army officer in August.
Officially, NATO has acknowledged that Taliban infiltrators were responsible for about 25 per cent of the insider assaults, but military alliance insisted too that much of the incidents were caused by personal grudge between Afghan troops and their foreign counterparts.
Mr Azimi has agreed that culture has played a key role in many of the deadly cases of gun battles between the normally reserved Afghan soldiers and the free-wheeling Western military service members.
Abruptly putting together these clashing backgrounds would likely result to "a high stress environment," according to NATO Deputy Commander Lt Gen Adrian Bradshaw.
Troops were now duly and constantly advised that they would be dealing "with a culture of honour and shame," whenever they interact with Afghan army and police officials, Mr Bradshaw told Reuters.
The new pamphlet, which were chiefly designed for the local security forces to fully understand the "odd behaviour" of the western soldiers, could also serve as guide for NATO troops to act in accordance with the unique Afghan and Islamic culture, Mr Azimi.
For instance, the manual warns that "coalition troops may ask about the women in your family," referring to members of the Afghan security forces.
Such initiatives from a stranger would come as an affront for any Afghan men, but the booklet guide instructed not to "take offence, they (NATO troops) just want friendly relations with you."
Instead, the pamphlet suggested, "Teach them that Afghans do not discuss their families' women with others."
The new government guide book also outlined specific actions and behaviours that Afghans should expect from NATO soldiers, which it insisted were not meant to disrespect or dishonour them.
NATO and Kabul have been ramping up new measures that both quarters hope would end the spate of insider attacks since last year, seen by observers as a major tumbling block in the underway efforts of preparing the government of President Hamid Karzai to fully govern the country before foreign troops draw down in 2014.
This week, hundreds of Afghan army personnel were either fired or detained following re-vetting procedures that were aimed to flush out security forces members that were connected with the Talibans.
Amidst the ongoing modifications, NATO assured that the recent spikes in green-on-blue attacks would not in any way hasten its withdrawal calendar.
Australia has also pledged that it will complete the mission in Afghanistan despite suffering five combat kills in a single day in late August, which was described by Canberra as the Diggers' worst day since the Vietnam War.