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DoD: Most insider attacks involve Pashtuns
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 10, 2012 16:09:27 EDT
Most of the insider attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan appear to involve Pashtuns, the Afghan ethnic group most closely aligned with the Taliban insurgency, according to newly released Pentagon data.
But the data is limited. Military officials have information on the ethnicity of the attackers in only 17 of the 76 incidents reported since 2007, Pentagon officials say.
Of those, 12 attackers were Pashtun, two were Tajik, two were Uzbek and one was Hazara, officials said Monday.
The insider attacks, also known as green-on-blue attacks, have spiked during the past year, but the underlying cause of many attacks remains unclear. U.S. officials estimate that about 25 percent are linked to insurgents, and the remaining attacks stem from personal or cultural tensions between Afghan troops and their western partners.
The Pashtun region extends from southern and eastern Afghanistan into parts of Pakistan and has been the focus of many U.S. combat operations in recent years.
DoD: Most insider attacks involve Pashtuns
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 10, 2012 16:09:27 EDT
Most of the insider attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan appear to involve Pashtuns, the Afghan ethnic group most closely aligned with the Taliban insurgency, according to newly released Pentagon data.
But the data is limited. Military officials have information on the ethnicity of the attackers in only 17 of the 76 incidents reported since 2007, Pentagon officials say.
Of those, 12 attackers were Pashtun, two were Tajik, two were Uzbek and one was Hazara, officials said Monday.
The insider attacks, also known as green-on-blue attacks, have spiked during the past year, but the underlying cause of many attacks remains unclear. U.S. officials estimate that about 25 percent are linked to insurgents, and the remaining attacks stem from personal or cultural tensions between Afghan troops and their western partners.
The Pashtun region extends from southern and eastern Afghanistan into parts of Pakistan and has been the focus of many U.S. combat operations in recent years.