Many insider attacks in Afghanistan stem from personal motives, data suggest

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/many-insider-attacks-in-afghanistan-stem-from-personal-motives-data-suggest/2012/12/18/86e515ea-4957-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_story.html

The Taliban has billed a rash of insider attacks targeting international troops in Afghanistan as an effective battlefield strategy, but detailed data disclosed recently by the U.S. military suggest that the largest percentage of such incidents probably stemmed from personal motives rather than enemy infiltration.

Of the 79 insider attacks from May 2007 to September 2012, military investigators found that 38 percent were likely to have been triggered by personal motives; 6 percent were suspected cases of enemy infiltration; and 14 percent were attributed to co-option, in which insurgents persuaded a member of the security forces to help carry out an attack. The cause of 38 percent of the cases was unknown or still under investigation.

The data on attacks by Afghan security personnel or military interpreters were included in a Pentagon report to Congress on operations in Afghanistan that was released last week.

After a sharp uptick in the number of “green on blue” attacks in the summer, the U.S. military temporarily suspended joint patrols. At least 116 NATO troops have been killed in insider attacks since 2007, including 51 this year.