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The green on blue attacks or insider offensive committed by Afghans in military uniform against NATO- led forces, may demonstrate security lapses and Taliban's penetration into the ranks of security forces.
In the latest green on blue attacks which occurred on August 5, a man in Afghan army uniform opened fire at a military academy in Qarga area, the outskirts of Kabul city, killing a two-star U.S. army general and injuring more than a dozen other Afghan and foreign military personnel including a German brigadier general and an Afghan army general.
Pentagon has confirmed the insider attack on foreign troopers in Kabul, saying that Major General Harold Greene had been killed and over a dozen others, including some Americans, had been injured in the attack, media reports said.
"Definitely, the attack by Afghan security personnel on NATO- led forces and Afghan security forces is a clear indication of security lapse and also the penetration of Taliban elements into the rank of national security troops," political analyst Nazari Pariani said in talks with Xinhua.
He also opined that the attack on Afghan and foreign forces in the military academy in Qarga area is not the first and won't be the last one.
In a related incident, a day later on August 6, an Afghan police after poisoning his colleagues at a checkpoint in Taliban former stronghold, the southern Uruzgan province, 370 km south of Kabul, had killed seven policemen and joined the Taliban insurgents.
"The initial inquiry shows that one policeman of the checkpoint had links with the Taliban militants. At first, he poisoned eight of his colleagues and later informed Taliban militants to come. They came to the checkpoint apparently at 03:00 a.m. local time and sprayed bullets, killing seven police on the spot and wounding another," a senior police officer Gulab Khan told Xinhua.
Khan also confirmed that the attackers, along with their agent, took away weapons and ammunition of the checkpoint and returned to their hideouts.
Pariani, who is the editor-in-chief of newspaper the Daily Mandegar, also predicted more insider attacks, saying Taliban elements in uniform have killed 21 Afghan soldiers in Kunar province, seven policemen in Uruzgan and a few others including American Major General Harold Greene in Kabul, and would carry out more attacks to claim more lives from Afghan and NATO-led forces soldiers.
The man carried out the deadly attack on August 5 at the military academy, according to defense ministry officials, was Rafiqullah of Paktia province, a former stronghold of Taliban militants, who had served in the Afghan army for the past three years.
Taliban militants in a statement posted on their website welcomed the green on blue attack and said "Rafiqullah was a patriotic Afghan" calling upon Afghan army and police to follow Rafiqullah's step and contribute in the so-called Jihad or holy war.
Such attacks if continue would undermine the trust between Afghan and NATO-led troops, Afghan observers believe, although officials have said that such incidents won't affect NATO-led forces' ties with Afghanistan.
"Attack against Afghan and NATO-led forces ranking military officials in a safe place such as military academy in Kabul openly demonstrates security slip and security fault in differentiation of foe from friend in recruiting army personnel," political analyst Wali Arya told local media.
