Since the US and its allies have announced to pull out their forces from Afghanistan, much resource is being directed towards bolstering the capacity of Afghan security forces. Extensive military training programs are being implemented. These trainings are undertaken both inside and outside Afghanistan in countries like Turkey and India.
No doubt, these kinds of efforts are necessary for the future of Afghan national army and police. They are the force that will be responsible to defend Afghanistan against its enemies after NATO's withdrawal. A professionally competent and adequately equipped army is what Afghanistan is in dire need of.
Although military trainings are vital to a strong army, there are some solid challenges ahead of this process. Among many constraints facing training programs and combine work of foreign and Afghan troops, killings of NATO soldiers and mentors in the hand their Afghan counterparts, trainees or insurgents disguised as Afghan soldiers seem to be the biggest one.
This trend has grown significantly in the recent years. On Wednesday, February 01, the international military coalition said a man wearing an Afghan army uniform shot and killed a NATO service member. No further details are available but the incident has taken place in southern Afghanistan.
Since December 28, this is the fourth time such incidents occur. On January, 20 four French soldiers got killed when an Afghan soldiers opened fire at them during a training session in Kapisa province of Afghanistan. In reaction, French speeded up its troop's withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"The pursuit of the transition and this gradual transfer of combat responsibilities will allow us to plan for a return of all our combat forces by the end of 2013," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on January, 27 adding that 1,000 troops would return in 2012. That is a year before than NATO countries commitment to pull out their forces from Afghanistan.
Although Pentagon does not see Afghan killing their international counterparts as a 'widespread' problem, this could grow to a big issue in the future. The greatest harm will reach to the training programs aimed at bolstering capacities Afghan security forces as fear of attack may always circulate in the minds of their foreign trainers.