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Interesting read http://www.news.com.au/national/interviews-reveal-australian-soldiers-feel-their-afghan-army-allies-are-dodgy/story-e6frfkvr-1225892506953 shared IAW the usual...
Interviews reveal Australian soldiers feel their Afghan army allies are 'dodgy'
By Rory Callinan and Sean Parnell From: The Australian July 16, 2010 12:42PM Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Print Email Share Add to Digg Add to del.icio.us Add to Facebook Add to Kwoff Add to Myspace Add to Newsvine What are these?
Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers march during a graduation ceremony / AFP Source: AFP
Claims of betrayal by allies
ADF seriously concerned
Pictures: Afghanistan honour roll
AN Afghan soldier working alongside Australian troops was suspected of spying for the Taliban after making a long mobile phone call just before their patrol was subjected to a five-hour attack.
Australian soldiers also feared their Afghan counterparts were "dodgy", according to statements collected from frontline troops as part of a government-funded study of deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, The Australian reported.
The revelations come after an Afghan soldier this week attacked his British trainers in Helmand province in the country's south, killing two officers and a soldier before fleeing to join the Taliban.
The Australian Defence Force has declined to provide further details about the mobile phone incident and other scenarios relating to Afghan National Army troops, but said such allegations were a "serious issue of concern".
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The incident was documented in an extraordinary selection of transcripts from 120 serving and former troops from the two Iraq offensives, dating back to the early 1990s, and the ongoing Afghanistan war.
A combat veteran - identified only as "3 BDG Combat" - told a health researcher how the patrol came under attack.
"We had an incident when one of them was on a mobile phone and about 20 minutes later we got contacted (attacked) and the contact went for like five hours," the soldier said in a focus group last year. "We had to strip all the gear off them (the soldiers) and take their weapons away and like, they got some interrogators in to see what was going on."
Another Australian soldier in the focus group described working with the Afghan army as "dodgy, dodgy as hell, no trust".
One even detailed an incident where Australian troops watched Afghan police fight over "chi boys".
"The ANP, the Afghani police, had a massive shootout one night and we just sat on the roof and sort of watched it, when we figured out they weren't actually shooting at us, they were shooting over us," said the soldier also just referred to as "3 BGD Combat".
"And a couple of them come up with holes in them from getting shot, but that's what it was about, someone having fun with their little mate that night."
An ADF spokesman said Defence would investigate the incident relating to the "chi boys" if more information was provided.
He said the allegations about the mobile phone incident raised "a serious issue of concern" but, again, there was insufficient information to investigate.
Australians have been mentoring the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Kandaks or battalions and the brigade headquarters and are expected to take over training for the entire 4th Brigade of the ANA.
Last month, Defence Minister John Faulkner said there was growing evidence that the ANA's 4th Brigade was "maturing towards its goal of independent operations".
The researchers who extracted the statements were preparing for a $12 million health study of Middle East deployments. They noted how Australian troops expressed "a sense of distrust" about working with the local forces. They felt they did not know who, or where, their enemies were.
Read more at The Australian.
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Interviews reveal Australian soldiers feel their Afghan army allies are 'dodgy'
By Rory Callinan and Sean Parnell From: The Australian July 16, 2010 12:42PM Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Print Email Share Add to Digg Add to del.icio.us Add to Facebook Add to Kwoff Add to Myspace Add to Newsvine What are these?
Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers march during a graduation ceremony / AFP Source: AFP
Claims of betrayal by allies
ADF seriously concerned
Pictures: Afghanistan honour roll
AN Afghan soldier working alongside Australian troops was suspected of spying for the Taliban after making a long mobile phone call just before their patrol was subjected to a five-hour attack.
Australian soldiers also feared their Afghan counterparts were "dodgy", according to statements collected from frontline troops as part of a government-funded study of deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, The Australian reported.
The revelations come after an Afghan soldier this week attacked his British trainers in Helmand province in the country's south, killing two officers and a soldier before fleeing to join the Taliban.
The Australian Defence Force has declined to provide further details about the mobile phone incident and other scenarios relating to Afghan National Army troops, but said such allegations were a "serious issue of concern".
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related CoverageCoalition: 'Fix' defence spending End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
The incident was documented in an extraordinary selection of transcripts from 120 serving and former troops from the two Iraq offensives, dating back to the early 1990s, and the ongoing Afghanistan war.
A combat veteran - identified only as "3 BDG Combat" - told a health researcher how the patrol came under attack.
"We had an incident when one of them was on a mobile phone and about 20 minutes later we got contacted (attacked) and the contact went for like five hours," the soldier said in a focus group last year. "We had to strip all the gear off them (the soldiers) and take their weapons away and like, they got some interrogators in to see what was going on."
Another Australian soldier in the focus group described working with the Afghan army as "dodgy, dodgy as hell, no trust".
One even detailed an incident where Australian troops watched Afghan police fight over "chi boys".
"The ANP, the Afghani police, had a massive shootout one night and we just sat on the roof and sort of watched it, when we figured out they weren't actually shooting at us, they were shooting over us," said the soldier also just referred to as "3 BGD Combat".
"And a couple of them come up with holes in them from getting shot, but that's what it was about, someone having fun with their little mate that night."
An ADF spokesman said Defence would investigate the incident relating to the "chi boys" if more information was provided.
He said the allegations about the mobile phone incident raised "a serious issue of concern" but, again, there was insufficient information to investigate.
Australians have been mentoring the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Kandaks or battalions and the brigade headquarters and are expected to take over training for the entire 4th Brigade of the ANA.
Last month, Defence Minister John Faulkner said there was growing evidence that the ANA's 4th Brigade was "maturing towards its goal of independent operations".
The researchers who extracted the statements were preparing for a $12 million health study of Middle East deployments. They noted how Australian troops expressed "a sense of distrust" about working with the local forces. They felt they did not know who, or where, their enemies were.
Read more at The Australian.
--------------------------
Thoughts?
Think before you post. Please keep all responses professional.
Thanks,
CC
