Afghan Attacks Go Unreported

Attacks on coalition forces reported only when fatal
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 30, 2012 3:39 PM CDT
Afghan Attacks Go Unreported
Afghan policemen keep watch near the scene of an attack in Kabul on April 15, 2012.   (Getty Images)

When Afghan police or soldiers gun down coalition troops, that's news. But the coalition doesn't report such incidents when troops are only wounded or go unharmed—even though the attacks are driven by the same fury against Afghanistan's occupiers, the AP reports. Last week, for example, the coalition kept quiet about two Afghan policemen who shot at US soldiers and wounded two of them.

A coalition spokesman explains that not all governments in the coalition have given their permission: "All releases must be consistent with the national policies of troop contributing nations," he said. But the AP pressed him, and learned that in addition to the 10 fatal attacks on coalition troops this year, two more resulted in no injury or death and an additional one led to injury. Meanwhile, fatal attacks against the coalition are going up. "Years of trust can be destroyed in just a minute," says an expert in international affairs, who added that any such attack "threatens the partnership." (More coalition forces stories.)

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