A high-profile attack has been foiled in the Ministry of Defense on last week with arrest of some soldiers after 10 suicide vests were found in the parking area of the ministry. Apparently terrorists had planned to blow up buses taking Defense ministry employees to their homes in the afternoon. Security break at such a high-profile area puts another question mark on the performance of the intelligence and military.
How could a group of suicide bombers enter the ministry? If they can get there, they can get anywhere in Afghanistan. It is believed the bombers who wanted to ride on the buses that afternoon could only cross security posts at the entrance of the ministry with connections inside.
Officials have not given further details about the Afghan National Army soldiers arrested. Besides the utter failure and a security breach at the highest level, it also shows the alarming degree of terrorist infiltration in our national security forces, who are to maintain order after 2014 when the international troops will withdraw.
President Karzai has called Defense Minister for explanation. He should resign taking responsibility for such a breach at the top level and ensure a thorough investigation. It should worry our decision makers at the top level that how easily the infiltrators and insurgents breach the intelligence network and security cordons. The fault line is deep into the system.
There has been increasing fratricidal attacks by members of Afghan National Army turning their guns toward their trainers. Almost a week two British forces were killed in an ISAF base in Helmand. An American soldier was killed in Paktika. In both cases, it has been ANA soldiers attacking on international troops.
The attacks particularly increased last year and current year. In last three months, 84 NATO troops have been killed and 16 of them were attacked by Afghan army or police.
The attacks cannot be ignored as isolated incidents, but show a larger infiltration of insurgents inside Afghan National Security Forces. A recent investigation by the Defense Ministry showed those involved in such attacks are ANA soldiers, not any random attacker in army uniform. The report said most of the attackers have family connections in Pakistan. As a result, the Ministry is considering to implement a new regulation for all soldiers to bring back their families to Afghanistan or leave the military.
The report of Defense Ministry was not a thorough investigation, and mere family ties in Pakistan cannot be a reason for the increasing infiltration. There should be wider investigation including the systematic fault lines that are easily exploited by insurgents to infiltrate national security forces.