SHASH2K2
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NEW YORK: The US, which is concerned over growing incidents of Afghan soldiers and police attacking their coalition counterparts, is sending 80 counter- intelligence agents to the war-torn country to tackle the threat of Taliban infiltration in local security forces.
These American intelligence specialists will evaluate recruits' profiles and work to improve procedures to identify those soldiers who are most vulnerable to extremists' appeals, The New York Times reported.
Some of the agents have already arrived, and the rest are expected soon, Lt Col David C Simons, a spokesperson for the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan, was quoted as saying.
Since March 2009, at least 57 people, including 32 US troops, have been killed and 64 wounded in at least 19 attacks in which Afghan service members have turned their weapons on coalition forces, the report said.
More than half of the casualties occurred in the first five months of this year, signalling an escalation in the number and intensity of the attacks.
"These incidents are exacerbated by austere battlefield conditions, combat stress, fatigue and cultural misunderstandings," Simons was quoted as saying by the paper. Nonetheless, "the threat of infiltration is real," he added.
The attacks are increasing as NATO forces are racing to train and build up the Afghan army and police to a force of 395,000 by 2014, when coalition forces will fully hand over security duties to Afghan National Security Forces.
