US-led troops’ morale plummets over deadly attacks in Afghanistan

The US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan says attacks on its personnel coming from Afghan troops are having an out-of-proportion effect on the Western coalition forces’ morale.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Monday that the deaths of coalition troops at the hand of Afghan soldiers had sapped spirits among its forces.

“Although the incidents are small in number, we are aware of the gravity they have as an effect on morale,” ISAF spokesman Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson said in Kabul.

“Every single incident has an out-of-proportion effect on morale and that goes for coalition forces as it goes for Afghan national security forces,” he added.

Since the beginning of 2012, 17 US-led troops, including seven US and five French trainers, have been killed by Afghan soldiers in 10 separate attacks.

Insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan because of the presence of some 130,000 US-led forces in the war-torn country.

On March 11, some US soldiers opened fire on Afghan civilians inside their homes in the district of Panjwaii in the southern province of Kandahar, killing 16 of them and injuring several others.

According to a fact-finding mission set up by the Afghan parliament, at least 20 US soldiers were involved in the killing spree.