The Afghan Taliban claimed Saturday to have recruited the Afghan soldier who killed four French NATO forces last week, an incident that led French president Nicolas Sarkozy to suspended all military operations on the ground in Afghanistan.
Sarkozy also sent French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet to Kabul to investigate conditions on the ground, and assess whether it is safe enough for French troops to continue military operations.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters Saturday that the French soldiers were killed by a Taliban recruit.
Army Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, Afghanistan told The Washington Examiner that they had seen reports regarding the Taliban’s claim “but we still have not seen any evidence, as of yet, to validate that claim.”
Cummings said the incident is still under investigation, adding that investigators are looking for evidence the Afghan soldier had connections to the Taliban.
He said that there is no evidence that the most recent incident and earlier, similar cases are linked.
On Friday a classified NATO report obtained by The New York Times, and written about last year in The Wall Street Journal, noted 58 Western troops had been killed in 26 separate attacks, from May 2007 and May 2011, by Afghan soldiers and security personnel.
“Incidents in the recent past where Afghan soldiers have wounded or killed ISAF members are isolated cases and each one has its own underlying circumstances and motives as to the reason why,” Cummings said. “There is no indication that these incidents are linked or part of any larger coordinated effort.”
In the shooting on Thursday, an Afghan man, wearing an army uniform, opened fire on unarmed French soldiers during a sports training exercise. He killed four of the men and wounded 16 others at a base in northwest Afghanistan’s Tabhab valley, in Kapisa province. The Afghan man was arrested and is being questioned, according to French and ISAF officials.
Coalition forces train and are partnered with thousands of Afghan personnel every day. There are more than 300,000 Afghan Security Forces working with 130,000 ISAF Forces, ISAF spokesman Cummings said.
“We are not seeing any major issues or concerns with the status of our relationships,” he said.
He said vetting Afghan National Security Forces is not simple. Using local cultural traditions, Afghan officials begin with the village elders who “testify to the recruit’s identity and motivation to serve” with Afghan Security Forces.
There are other screening mechanisms in place as well.
“Biometric enrollment is completed on each applicant, which has been successful in identifying individuals with criminal backgrounds that went back over 30 years,” Cummings said. “All applicants are also medically screened and drug tested.
“Though we feel the vetting process is thorough,” added Cummings, “there are several initiatives underway to improve the process.”
Sara A. Carter is The Washington Examiner’s national security correspondent. She can be reached at [email protected].
