Taliban has infiltrated Afghan forces, waiting to hit US-NATO forces: Ex-UN official

KABUL - A former senior UN official, Antonio Maria Costa, has claimed that the Taliban has infiltrated the Afghan forces and that they are waiting for instructions to hit on NATO-led troops.

Dr Costa, who is a former executive director of the UN’s Office of Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan, reportedly said the Taliban sleeper cells had been set up inside the security police and army forces. He further claimed that they had already carried out a number of attacks and are plotting to attack the western forces in the near future.

According to the Daily Mail, he further stated that the coalition requires 141,000 new recruits, more than the current size of the Afghan army, within a year before handing over power to the Afghan forces in 2014, and added that the Taliban are taking advantage of this situation to enlist insurgents into the ranks.

“We have plenty of evidence we had a number of suicide attacks carried out by people who had been trusted because they were affiliated to either the army or the police. Certainly there are sleeping cells, certainly there are individuals who are waiting for instruction to hit and that is one of the biggest problem, which we have seen in Afghanistan as of late,” Dr. Costa added.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Nick Parker, Deputy Commander of the coalition forces in Afghanistan, said the extent of the Taliban infiltration had to be put into perspective.

“There have been some very unfortunate incidents but in a force this size it is probably inevitable that sort of thing will occur on rare occasions. This is something we must watch very carefully. It is not widespread and what we’ve got to do is continue to partner effectively with security forces out on the front line,” he added. (ANI)