WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan have assigned "guardian angels" -- troops that watch over their comrades even as they sleep -- and have ordered a series of other increased security measures to protect troops against possible attacks by rogue Afghans.
| What's the proportion of 'rogue' Afghans these days? 80%? |
| No. Many simply walk away when they realize they weren't meant for the military life, or kill fellow Afghans. |
The added protections are part of a directive issued in recent weeks by Marine Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to guard against insider threats, according to a senior military official. And they come in the wake of a spike in attacks on U.S. and coalition forces by Afghans, including the point-blank shooting deaths of two U.S. advisers in Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior.
Some of the changes have been subtle, others not so much.
In several Afghan ministries, Americans are now allowed to carry weapons. And they have been instructed to rearrange their office desks there to face the door, so they can see who is coming in, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the internal directive.
While Allen did not detail the new measures in a briefing earlier this week, he acknowledged that changes had been made.
"We have taken steps necessary on our side to protect ourselves with respect to, in fact, sleeping arrangements, internal defenses associated with those small bases in which we operate," Allen said, adding that now someone is "always overwatching our forces." |