Afghanistan/US - security

Top US military chief arrives as gunmen kill 16 police in two ambushes

Article published on the 2009-12-14 Latest update 2009-12-14 15:25 TU

President Hamid Karzai (R) speaks to Admiral Mike Mullen
(Photo: Reuters/Massoud Hossaini)

Senior US military officer Admiral Mike Mullen has arrived in Kabul for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said gunmen stormed two police posts in the northwest and the south, the heartland of the Taliban insurgency.

Admiral Mullen is in Kabul for talks on President Barack Obama's sweeping new war strategy that aims to reverse the eight-year Taliban insurgency, deny Al-Qaeda a safe haven, and train Afghan forces.

"The key part of that strategy was the decision to surge an additional 30,000 United States troops in Afghanistan," said Mullen on Monday, referring to Obama's announcement earlier this month.

A 1,500-strong Marine contingent is set to arrive this week in southern Helmand, one of areas where the violence is strongest.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed concern about "growing" collusion between Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups taking refuge in neighbouring Pakistan.

"Getting at this network, which is now more entrenched, will be a far more difficult task that it was just one year ago," he added.

Meanwhile, gunmen on Monday attacked police posts in Baghlan province in the north and in the southern Helmand province. Eight policemen died in each attack.

A local official blamed the attack in Helmand on three renegade policemen, who turned their guns on colleagues.

"Three of them were involved in the plot," said provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi. "They fired at their police colleagues killing seven. One of the three grabbed weapons and a police vehicle and managed to escape to the Taliban." 

In another early morning attack, a police post was ambushed on a main highway coming from Kabul in Baghlan province in northeast Afghanistan. Baghlan governor Mohammad Akbar Barakzai blamed the attack on Hezb-e-Islami, a militant group strong in parts of the northeast.

The attacks show the vulnerability of the local police in Afghanistan, who have often been targets of militants and have suffered much heavier casualties than foreign troops.

Recruiting and training Afghan forces is a key part of the US strategy to end the war against Taliban-led insurgents, and eventually withdraw troops from Afghanistan. 

However, local police struggle with insufficient resources and personnel. Meanwhile corruption and drug addiction are rampant in the force.

In November, a policeman shot dead four of his colleagues before being killed by soldiers in southwestern Afghanistan. Earlier that same month, a policeman shot five British soldiers at a checkpoint in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province.