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17 Afghan Police Officers Drugged and Killed Twenty Afghan Police Officers Killed in Two Attacks
(about 5 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — A group of 17 Afghan policemen were drugged by their comrades while on duty and then shot to death in their sleep in what appears to be the single worst incident in a string of similar attacks, according to Afghan officials. KABUL, Afghanistan — Suspected Taliban infiltrators killed 20 Afghan policemen in two attacks on Wednesday, including a mass poisoning, in southeastern Afghanistan.
The attack took place at a remote Afghan Local Police post in Ghazni Province, south of the capital, early Wednesday morning, according to General Zrawar Zahid, the Ghazni police chief. In Ghazni Province, a group of 17 Afghan policemen who had just been trained by the Americans were drugged into comatose stupors by comrades while on duty and then shot to death in what appeared to be the single worst incident in a string of similar attacks, according to Afghan officials and an insurgent spokesman.
Other Afghan officials said authorities had already arrested two policemen who they said were Taliban infiltrators who had carried out the attack. In Kandahar Province, three policemen were killed in what the Taliban said was an attack carried out by one of its supporters, although police officials attributed the killings to a relative of one of the victims.
Local officials said the attack in Habib Godala village in the Andar district took place about 1 a.m., after the policemen in the outpost had been drugged during dinner and fallen asleep. All were then shot at close range, and the attackers stole their weapons and set a police vehicle on fire before fleeing. The Ghazni attack took place at a remote Afghan Local Police outpost in Habib Godala village in the Andar district at about 1 a.m., according to Gen. l Zrawar Zahid, the Ghazni police chief.
General Zahid said that 10 of the victims were Afghan Local Police officers who had finished their training, and seven others were recruits who were undergoing training. The A.L.P. program has been controversial in many parts of Afghanistan because of prominent insider attacks as well as accusations of human rights violations by the policemen. Other Afghan officials said authorities had already arrested two policemen, described as Taliban infiltrators who had carried out the attack. The attackers poisoned the dinner food of the other officers, shot them at close range to ensure they were dead, stole their weapons and fled after setting a police vehicle on fire.
The officers are vetted and trained by American special operations troops as self-defense forces for their own communities, and sometimes include groups of armed men who had formerly sided with the Taliban. General Zahid said that 10 of the victims were Afghan Local Police officers who had finished their training, and the other seven were recruits who had been undergoing training.
Khalil Hotaki, head of a peace group in Ghazni, complained that many local officials had tried to interfere in recruitment for the A.L.P. units, creating opportunities for Taliban infiltration. He said that a similar attempt to drug policemen had taken place a week earlier in the same district, but the drug had not been strong enough and the victims were able to prevent an attack. The Afghan Local Police program has been contentious in many parts of Afghanistan because of prominent insider attacks as well as accusations of human rights violations by the policemen.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, emailed a statement to journalists claiming responsibility for the attack. The local police officers are vetted and trained under the supervision of American Special Operations troops as self-defense forces for their own communities, and sometimes include groups of armed men who had formerly sided with the Taliban.
“Locals in the area were tired of the atrocities and crimes of these arbakais and their lives and property were not safe,” Mr. Mujahid wrote, using the Afghan term for irregular militias. “By eliminating these 19 corrupt arbakais, oppression has been weakened and decreased in the area.” He claimed 19 of them were killed. This unit, which was completely wiped out by the attack, had been trained by the Americans at a base in the Andar district center a month ago, according to local officials. Only a week earlier, there was another similar attempt to drug policemen in that district, but the drug had not been strong enough and the victims were able to escape an attack, according to Khalil Hotaki, head of a peace group in Ghazni.
The attack was just the latest in a series of such insider attacks, often involving the use of poisons or drugs to subdue other policemen, who are then shot while unconscious. “We have repeatedly warned the A.L.P. recruiters and trainers to conduct proper and accurate vetting processes for people who want to join the A.L.P. ranks,” said Fiazanullah Fiazan, a former provincial governor in Ghazni. “We have told them not to enroll unknown people or people who are not vouched by tribal elders, but they don’t listen. They are trying to meet the recruiting deadline and get credit for it.”
In January, an Afghan Local Police officer killed his commander and several colleagues in that manner, in Panjway District of Kandahar Province. A spokesman for the Special Operation troops in Afghanistan could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force referred all questions to Afghan officials.
In a 10-day-long period in December, there were at least three such attacks by local policemen or others, resulting in 17 deaths. A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, e-mailed a statement to journalists claiming responsibility for the attack.

An Afghan employee of The New York Times in Kabul contributed reporting

“Locals in the area were tired of the atrocities and crimes of these arbakais and their lives and property were not safe,” Mr. Mujahid wrote, using the Afghan term for irregular militias. The deaths of the police officers, he said, meant that “oppression has been weakened and decreased in the area.”
In the Kandahar incident, authorities said the bodies of three National Police officers were found outside their police post on the outskirts of Kandahar City, shot to death. A spokesman for the police, Ghorzang, who like many Afghans goes by only one name, said the attacker was not an insurgent, but a heroin addict and a relative of the post commander, who was one of the victims.
Mr. Ghorzang said the commander had taken the relative to get treatment, and after the police in the post fell asleep he took one of their guns and killed him and two other officers. The attacker, who was not identified by name, escaped.
But a spokesman for the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, reached by telephone, said that the insurgents had recruited the attacker and took responsibility for the attack.
The attacks were just the latest in a series of such insider attacks, often involving the use of poisons or drugs to subdue other policemen, who are then shot while unconscious. Typically, rat poison is used but the victims are shot as well because the poison is not always fatal when delivered in food.
“This type of attack is so deadly and disastrous, both in terms of loss of human life and in critically undermining trust and confidence among the Afghan national security forces and in particular the A.L.P.,” said retired Gen. Atiqullah Amarkhel, an Afghan military analyst. “We have a large number of cases similar to last night’s attack in Ghazni.”
In January, an Afghan Local Police officer killed his commander and several colleagues in that manner, in Panjwai District of Kandahar Province. In a 10-day-long period in December, there were at least three such attacks by local policemen or others, resulting in 17 deaths.

Taimoor Shah contributed reporting from Kandahar, and Sangar Rahimi and another Afghan employee of The New York Times from Kabul.