Green on blue attacks - military term used for attacks by member of Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) on their foreign counterparts or mentors have taken lives of at least 51 foreign troops in Afghanistan only in the current year. The trend seems to be the deadliest tactic of insurgents after IED attacks.
The Taliban are achieving one of their objectives through such attacks - straining the trust and confidence between Afghan and NATO troops and harming the crucial training programs aimed at boosting the capabilities of ANSF.
That is something that was not possible through other means such as suicide attacks, planting of IED and firefights. So, green on blue attacks have had a very damaging impact on the relations between ANSF and US-led international troops who have been operating together in the last more than ten years.
Insider attacks and methodologies that should be adopted to counter them remained one of the top agendas at NATO defense ministers meeting concluded yesterday. Concerns among US and other NATO countries have multiplied regarding escalation of insider attacks and Leon Panetta, US Defense Secretary, deems countering them as an important element for success in Afghanistan.
"Whatever motivates these attacks, the enemy intends to use them to undermine mutual trust and cohesion, driving a wedge between us and our Afghan partners," Panetta told a meeting of NATO defense ministers at its Brussels headquarters.
Stricter measures for background checks of Afghan soldiers must be one of the viable options for US and Afghan military officials to prevent future insider attacks. But Taliban claim to have infiltrated the ANSF and it would be a difficult task to identify their sympathizers even with background checks.
It is yet to be seen what the NATO would come up with to tackle the growing insider attacks. "We can only deny the enemy its objective by countering these attacks with all of our strength," Panetta said, outlining a series of measures including enhanced training, and greater vigilance and intelligence efforts.
Green on blue attacks continue taking tolls on the one hand and on the other causing huge harm to relation of and trust between international and Afghan troops which is not welcoming for the future security of this war torn country. Already, there are serious concerns over the capability of ANSF to successfully defend Afghanistan on their own after the 2014.
Continuation of green on blue attacks fuels such doubts. After the withdrawal of NATO forces, the Taliban sympathizers hidden in ANSF may turn towards killing Afghan soldiers or police and that will be catastrophic for Afghanistan.