NATO trains Afghan troops to reduce civilian casualties in air strikes

Record ID: 84245

  • Title: NATO trains Afghan troops to reduce civilian casualties in air strikes
  • Date: 20th October 2016
  • Summary: LOGAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN (OCTOBER 18, 2016) (REUTERS) AFGHAN TACTICAL AIR CONTROLLER (ATAC) LOOKING THROUGH BINOCULARS FIGHTER PLANE FLYING OVERHEAD AIR STRIKE HIT GROUND ADVISOR LIEUTENANT COLONEL ANDY JANSSEN LOOKING THROUGH BINOCULARS CLOSE OF U.S. ADVISOR LIEUTENANT COLONEL ANDY JANSSEN LOOKING THROUGH BINOCULARS (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. ADVISOR LIEUTENANT COLONEL ANDY JANSSEN, SAYING: "Once the aircraft gets to the target area you have a much higher ability to effectively strike that target. With a guy on the ground talking the pilot's eyes to the target. When you're in the air, the picture of what's going on is vastly different than when you're on the ground. So the ability to 'talk' the pilot's eyes to the target is effectively huge and the effectiveness of the strikes go (sic) up exponentially when you do that." AFGHAN TACTICAL AIR CONTROLLERS (ATAC)/HOLDING RADIOS AFGHAN TACTICAL AIR CONTROLLERS (ATAC)/HOLDING RADIO FIGHTER PLANE FLYING OVERHEAD AIR STRIKE HIT GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) AFGHAN TACTICAL AIR CONTROLLER (ATAC), LIEUTENANT MOHAMMAD AKRAM, SAYING: "We can take our coordinates and the enemy's coordinates to prevent civilian casualties and from hitting the wrong target." AFGHAN TACTICAL AIR CONTROLLER (ATAC) AND NATO OFFICER AFGHAN TACTICAL AIR CONTROLLERS (ATAC) SITTING/WRITING CLOSE OF AFGHAN TACTICAL AIR CONTROLLER (ATAC) TALKING ON RADIO MEDIUM OF AFGHAN TACTICAL AIR CONTROLLER (ATAC) TALKING ON RADIO
  • Embargoed: 4th November 2016 15:11
  • Keywords: Afghanistan NATO military airforce training
  • Location: LOGAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
  • City: LOGAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA00154T6O1Z
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) forces have begun training Afghan Tactical Air Controllers (ATAC) to pinpoint the ground targets for aircraft flying overhead in order to enhance air strike accuracy and reduce civilian casualties.
    "Once the aircraft gets to the target area you have a much higher ability to effectively strike that target. With a guy on the ground talking the pilot's eyes to the target. When you're in the air, the picture of what's going on is vastly different than when you're on the ground. So the ability to 'talk' the pilot's eyes to the target is effectively huge and the effectiveness of the strikes go (sic) up exponentially when you do that," said Lieutenant Colonel, Andy Janssen, a U.S advisor.
    About 60 students are currently at various levels in this training programme, with officials hoping to field nearly 100 so-called Afghan Tactical Air Controllers by March next year.
    Lieutenant Mohammad Akram, an ATAC trainee, said he hoped the training would help to prevent civilian casualties and avoid hitting the wrong targets.
    NATO has shifted most military responsibility on to Afghanistan's armed forces since it ended its main combat mission after 2014, including building up air capabilities that are crucial to holding back Taliban advances.
    There are currently about 13,000 U.S. and international troops serving in the NATO mission, called Resolute Support, in Afghanistan, with Germany, Turkey and Italy as the biggest non-U.S contributors. Their role is to train the Afghan forces.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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