SamTuckerMTNMAN
Member
Toy guns worry NATO Troops!
crazy long address just click here for yahoo news
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No, in all seriousness. It seems to me a valid tactic on the part of an insurgency; fill childrens hands with toy guns. You get them shot by the Opposition Force, looks good for you and bad for them. Gets the kids into pointing weapons and fantasizing about shooting the 'enemy', and allows open smuggling of non 'threatening' "toy" weapons when carried by children.
Anyway, interesting.
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Fri Jan 5, 1:51 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - The NATO-led force in Afghanistan has urged parents to tell their children not to play with toy guns around military patrols, warning they could be mistaken for the real thing.
The plea comes after a series of incidents in which International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers, a target of Taliban attacks, have shot and killed civilians fearing they may have been attackers about to strike.
ISAF said in a statement late Thursday that its troops had reported an increase in the number of replica or toy guns being played with by children around military patrols, which was a concern for patrol commanders.
The increase may have come after the just-ended Eid holidays, when children may have been given toy guns as presents, it said.
"Playing with them and pointing them at patrolling ISAF troops is a dangerous practice, which could result in troops mistaking the replica weapons for real ones, and reacting to protect themselves," the statement said.
"I would urge parents to ensure that their children do not play with toy guns around patrolling troops. Some of the toy guns are very lifelike and can easily be mistaken by troops as the real thing," spokesman Major Dominic Whyte said.
ISAF, which has more than 33,000 troops from 37 countries across the country, said this week one of its biggest mistakes last year was that it killed too many civilians as it went after the Taliban and other rebels.
Around 1,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in Taliban-linked unrest last year, including suicide and roadside bomb blasts carried out by the rebels and foreign force air and ground strikes against suspected militants.
crazy long address just click here for yahoo news
-----------------------------
No, in all seriousness. It seems to me a valid tactic on the part of an insurgency; fill childrens hands with toy guns. You get them shot by the Opposition Force, looks good for you and bad for them. Gets the kids into pointing weapons and fantasizing about shooting the 'enemy', and allows open smuggling of non 'threatening' "toy" weapons when carried by children.
Anyway, interesting.
ST
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article copy
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Fri Jan 5, 1:51 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - The NATO-led force in Afghanistan has urged parents to tell their children not to play with toy guns around military patrols, warning they could be mistaken for the real thing.
The plea comes after a series of incidents in which International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers, a target of Taliban attacks, have shot and killed civilians fearing they may have been attackers about to strike.
ISAF said in a statement late Thursday that its troops had reported an increase in the number of replica or toy guns being played with by children around military patrols, which was a concern for patrol commanders.
The increase may have come after the just-ended Eid holidays, when children may have been given toy guns as presents, it said.
"Playing with them and pointing them at patrolling ISAF troops is a dangerous practice, which could result in troops mistaking the replica weapons for real ones, and reacting to protect themselves," the statement said.
"I would urge parents to ensure that their children do not play with toy guns around patrolling troops. Some of the toy guns are very lifelike and can easily be mistaken by troops as the real thing," spokesman Major Dominic Whyte said.
ISAF, which has more than 33,000 troops from 37 countries across the country, said this week one of its biggest mistakes last year was that it killed too many civilians as it went after the Taliban and other rebels.
Around 1,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in Taliban-linked unrest last year, including suicide and roadside bomb blasts carried out by the rebels and foreign force air and ground strikes against suspected militants.
What are you really upset about?