Unarmed troops ‘murdered’: France threatens to pull out of Afghanistan

Rogue Afghan soldier opens fire on French soldiers, killing four.

PARIS:

France threatened on Friday to pull out early from the Nato-led war in Afghanistan after a rogue Afghan soldier opened fire on French soldiers, killing four and wounding about 15 others.

The killings in the Taghab Valley of Afghanistan’s eastern Kapisa province were the latest in a series of incidents that have seen Afghan troops turn on their Western allies, damaging trust. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said all French operations on the ground were being suspended and his defence minister was dispatched to clarify things on the ground in Afghanistan.

“If the security conditions are not clearly established then the question of an early return of French forces from Afghanistan will arise,” said Sarkozy.

France has almost 4,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the 130,000-strong Nato-led force there. French troops mainly patrol Kapisa, an often restive province in mountains near Kabul. They are due to leave by around the end of 2013.

A security source said the shooting happened as “the French were just finishing their sports session” at the Gwam base.

“The soldiers were not protected. They could not defend themselves. He fired at the group. Then they neutralised him,” the source said.

French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet described the attack as “murder”.

“They were not armed, they were literally murdered by an Afghan soldier. We don’t yet know if it was a Taliban who infiltrated or if it was someone who decided to act for reasons as yet unknown,” Longuet said. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told a news conference about 15 other soldiers were wounded, eight of them seriously.

Nato has been rapidly expanding the size of the Afghan security forces so that they will be able to take over all responsibility for security by the time Western combat forces leave in 2014.

Previous incidents in which Western troops were killed by Afghan colleagues have been blamed either on Taliban infiltration of the Afghan military, or on stress, indiscipline and divided loyalties within the hastily trained Afghan ranks.

“It’s unacceptable that our soldiers are killed by our allies,” Sarkozy said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in a statement: “In regard to the killing of four French soldiers in Kapisa, I would like to express my deep sadness and condolences to the families of the victims as well as to the French people.”

The Taliban said that they could not confirm whether or not the killer was a Taliban member but signalled that such attacks were part of its strategy.

Pentagon reaction

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said it was up to France alone to decide whether to accelerate the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan after four of them were killed by an Afghan soldier.

“We mourn for their losses today, but those are decisions that only the French government and the French people can make,” Navy Captain John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said of Sarkozy’s remarks.

“Their contributions are theirs to determine and theirs to amend as they see fit,” Kirby said, calling the French “great allies and great friends.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2012.