Our Afghan “team” doesn’t like us very much

When Australians on the ground believe their Afghan “partner” can’t be trusted – hard to imagine why an occupying army isn’t more popular – can we now have a serious and mature debate about why Australia is still in the country?

An Afghan soldier working alongside Australian troops was suspected of spying for the Taliban after making a long mobile phone call just before their patrol was subjected to a five-hour attack.

Australian soldiers also feared their Afghan counterparts were “dodgy”, according to statements collected from frontline troops as part of a government-funded study of deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, The Australian reported.

The revelations come after an Afghan soldier this week attacked his British trainers in Helmand province in the country’s south, killing two officers and a soldier before fleeing to join the Taliban.

The Australian Defence Force has declined to provide further details about the mobile phone incident and other scenarios relating to Afghan National Army troops, but said such allegations were a “serious issue of concern”.

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