The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces has suffered major insider attacks this year from infiltrators joining government forces and then turning on their comrades, according to a new inspector general report.
The quarterly report, released by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), details the number of insider attacks that have plagued Afghan forces since the beginning of the year, also including figures from 2015.
From 2015 to the Aug. 19, 2016, there were a total of 101 insider attacks in the Afghan military, which resulted in 257 deaths and 125 Afghan personnel wounded. Of that total number of attacks, 44 took place in 2016, which left 120 dead and 70 others wounded.
“Green on blue” attacks, that is, attacks by Afghan infiltrators targeting U.S. servicemembers, numbered eight from the beginning of 2015 to Aug. 19, 2016.
In 2015, “green on blue” attacks killed three U.S. servicemembers and wounded 14 others. In 2016, there were three attacks, which left two U.S. personnel dead and wounded one other.
The two U.S. servicemembers killed in 2016 were both located in Helmand Province, a Taliban stronghold.
Insider attacks have placed Afghan security forces in a difficult position, as Afghan troops have already suffered from 5,523 casualties in the first eight months of 2016, due to fighting a resurgent and aggressive Taliban.
The Taliban in 2016 has managed to continue territorial acquisition, in effect decreasing the amount of land controlled by the Afghan government by 2.2 percent. The insurgent group has the most control over Afghanistan that it’s had since 2001.
Another SIGAR report in October elsewhere paints an extremely bleak picture of Afghanistan development, specifically with regards to infrastructure, quoting one Afghan official who said that the once-prized Kabul-Kandahar highway is beyond repair. Kabul-Kandahar was once lauded as a prime example of incredibly recovery in the war-torn country, but it has since become the victim of poor maintenance, lack of sufficient funds and government corruption.
Inspectors noted that 95 percent of road sections examined exhibited serious damage. Another 85 percent of sections examined weren’t maintained at all.
Follow Jonah Bennett on Twitter
Send tips to jonah@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.