Insider attack killed 2 Americans, four Afghans – officials

Event Notice: Please join the New America Foundation and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies TODAY from 12:15-1:45 PM for a lively debate between experts over whether or not al-Qaeda has been defeated (NAF).

Inside job?

Afghan and Western officials said Monday that a member of the Afghan intelligence service carried out a suicide bomb attack on Saturday that killed two Americans and four Afghan intelligence officers, including the deputy intelligence director for Kandahar Province Ghulam Rasool (NYT). But a spokesman for the intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), denied Tuesday that the attacker was actually an NDS employee, but was instead an insurgent wearing an NDS uniform (AP).

The Afghan Army now has to replace one-third of its forces every year due to rampant desertions and low re-enlistment rates, posing an important challenge to the central NATO goal of building a competent Afghan National Army (ANA) that is capable of maintaining security after the withdrawal deadline in 2014 (NYT). Not only does this mean that every year, a third of the ANA consists of brand-new recruits, but also that tens of thousands of men with at least one year of military training are looking for work outside of the army in a country battling an insurgency and filled with competing militias.

Good news

British doctors said Monday that Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old girl who was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban last week, has "a chance of making a good recovery on every level," welcome words both to her family and to the entire Pakistani population, which has united in condemnation of the brutal attack (Reuters, AJE, BBC). Several people were arrested at the Birmingham hospital where Malala is now undergoing treatment, for posing as the girl’s family members in an attempt to visit her room (CNN, AFP/ET).

Pakistani Minister of the Interior Rehman Malik on Monday offered a $1 million bounty for the spokesman of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Ehsanullah Ehsan, who took responsibility for the attack on Malala, and has sent messages to media outlets declaring the group’s intention to target her again if she survives (Tel, CNN, ET, Dawn).

Pakistan’s Interior Ministry announced Tuesday that it had received intelligence that a faction of the TTP is planning attacks on law enforcement training camps and other sensitive areas in Sindh Province (ET). And four members of the minority Hazara community were shot and killed in Quetta, Balochistan on Tuesday in apparent sectarian attacks (ET, Dawn).

School daze

Hundreds of students attending the Allama Iqbal Open University in Islamabad will not be able to go home for Eid later this month, because exams have been scheduled for the day before the three-day holiday starts (Dawn). For those whose families live far from Islamabad, a 6-9 hour journey on the night before Eid is just not feasible, and university management has so far rejected appeals to change the examination schedule.

— Jennifer Rowland