American troops have once again bombed Afghan security forces in the volatile southern Helmand province. As many as 17 policemen have reportedly been killed and scores of others wounded in the incident which occurred after Afghan forces asked for air support as their base came under Taliban attack. Confirming the incident, a spokesperson for the Resolute Support (RS) mission has said they had been told there were no Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in the area. According to him, both Afghan forces and the Taliban have suffered casualties in the air raids, and they will look into the issues in communications to avoid the occurrence of such incidents in the future.
This is not the first time Afghan forces suffer casualties in foreign airstrikes. Such incidents have taken place times and again, and each time the foreigners have promised that they would not be repeated, but they have not been honored similar to the pledges to prevent civilian casualties in ground and air operations. Not a single step with tangible results has so far been taken. The real problem is that no priority has been given to the prevention of such incidents, as they are not investigated as well. Had they been properly probed into, and the culprits punished, they could have been prevented from happening again.
The killing of Afghan forces by American troops is extremely damaging as it hurts the partnership between both sides in the war on terrorism, especially in the current difficult, shaky situation Afghan forces are grappling with. Under piled pressure from the insurgents, Afghan forces can lose trust in Americans, thereby jeopardizing the whole fight against terrorism. Afghan government leaders and their Western allies must not underrate the dangers of ANDSF casualties in American airstrikes. Such attacks, which breed anger and resentment among Afghan forces towards American troops, can subvert the regime. The president, who has embraced deadly silence on civilian casualties caused in US airstrikes, should at least speak out against the killing of the very forces that continue to defend his government at the cost of their lives.