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Mattis: Afghans boost troop vetting after insider attacks

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press
Published: September 11, 2018, 5:55pm

WASHINGTON — The Afghan military has increased its vetting of local forces working with American troops as a result of recent insider attacks that killed two U.S. service members, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday.

Mattis was making his first public comments about his meetings in Afghanistan last week when he raised the issue with President Ashraf Ghani amid increased concerns about Afghan forces attacking U.S. troops they work alongside.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters, Mattis said that Afghan leaders increased training for their troops and expanded security checks “to make certain we’re catching people who’ve been radicalized.”

Cpl. Joseph Maciel of South Gate, Calif., was shot and killed and two others were wounded in July at Tarin Kowt in southern Uruzgan province. And Army Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy A. Bolyard, of Thornton, W.V., was shot and killed and another service member was wounded by a member of the Afghan national police in eastern Logar province. The troops were all part of the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, which is spread out across Afghanistan to train and advise local forces.

Mattis made a brief, unannounced visit to Kabul on Friday to meet with government leaders and the new commander of U.S. and coalition forces, Army Gen. Scott Miller.

A key subject during his meetings, Mattis said, was the path to reconciliation with the Taliban and how to ensure that the warfighting campaign is sustained even as peace talks are sought.

“We spoke about the need for clarity among everyone so that there is never something going on” regarding reconciliation that all sides don’t know about, Mattis said. He added that they also discussed security for the upcoming parliamentary election.

The U.S. has been increasing efforts to support reconciliation between the Taliban and the Afghan government, naming diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad as a special adviser for the matter last week.

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