Foreign spies blamed for Afghan attacks

KABUL - The Associated Press

The Afghan government has blamed foreign spy agencies for a rising number of killings where its security forces have gunned down their international partners, and ordered stricter vetting of recruits and screening of those in the 350,000-member Afghan security force.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai summoned members of his national security council to the palace to discuss cases where members of the Afghan security forces or militants wearing their uniforms have turned their weapons on foreign troops. So far this year, there have been 32 insider attacks against coalition forces, resulting in 40 deaths. That’s up from 21 attacks for all of 2011, with 35 killed.

“The reports presented by the security officials in this meeting blamed the infiltration by foreign spy agencies into Afghan security force ranks as responsible for the rise in the individual shootings,” Karzai’s spokesman Aimal Faizi said. He said the foreign agencies were trying to undermine confidence in the Afghan security forces. Faizi also said the spy agencies included those from “neighboring countries,” an allusion to Pakistan and Iran. The vetting process will be tightened, he added.