Afghan soldier shoots dead three US troops
Sunday September 22, 2013
KHOST - An Afghan Army soldier has shot dead three US soldiers in the eastern part of the war-torn country, the NATO coalition said on Saturday.
So-called insider attacks, in which Afghan forces turn their guns on their international partners, have killed scores of foreign troops in Afghanistan, breeding fierce mistrust and threatening to derail the training of local forces to take over security duties ahead of NATOs withdrawal next year.
Three International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service members died when an individual wearing an Afghan National Security Forces uniform shot them in eastern Afghanistan today, an ISAF statement said, adding that both ISAF and Afghan officials were investigating the incident. A US defence official confirmed to AFP that the three victims were from the United Sates.
An Afghan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the incident happened during a training session in the insurgency-hit eastern province of Paktia.
An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier opened fire on US soldiers in a military training camp, killing two on the spot, he said. A third later died of his wounds, he added. The attacker was killed when Americans and Afghan soldiers returned fire, he said.
The threat of insider attacks has become so serious that foreign soldiers working with Afghan forces are regularly watched over by so-called guardian angel troops to provide protection from their supposed allies.
ISAF officials say that most insider attacks stem from personal grudges and cultural misunderstandings rather than Taliban insurgent plots. Afghan soldiers and police are taking on responsibility for battling the militants from 87,000 Nato combat troops who will leave by the end of 2014 - 13 years after a US-led invasion brought down the Taliban regime.
But the 350,000-strong security forces are suffering a steep rise in casualties as the NATO combat mission winds down and Afghan authorities try to bring stability ahead of the presidential poll set for April next year.
On Friday Afghanistans interior ministry confirmed that 18 policemen had been killed in a Taliban ambush in the northeastern province of Badakhshan.
The policemen, who were returning from an anti-insurgent operation in the town of Warduj, were ambushed by scores of armed militants resulting in a fierce firefight in which eighteen officers were killed and thirteen others injured, the interior ministry said in a statement.
The attack and casualties will heighten concerns that Afghan forces cannot provide effective security across the country, where a US-led invasion ousted the hardline Taliban regime in 2001, in time for the presidential election due in April. ...
Afghan soldier shoots dead three US troops
Sunday September 22, 2013
KHOST - An Afghan Army soldier has shot dead three US soldiers in the eastern part of the war-torn country, the NATO coalition said on Saturday.
So-called insider attacks, in which Afghan forces turn their guns on their international partners, have killed scores of foreign troops in Afghanistan, breeding fierce mistrust and threatening to derail the training of local forces to take over security duties ahead of NATOs withdrawal next year.
Three International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service members died when an individual wearing an Afghan National Security Forces uniform shot them in eastern Afghanistan today, an ISAF statement said, adding that both ISAF and Afghan officials were investigating the incident. A US defence official confirmed to AFP that the three victims were from the United Sates.
An Afghan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the incident happened during a training session in the insurgency-hit eastern province of Paktia.
An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier opened fire on US soldiers in a military training camp, killing two on the spot, he said. A third later died of his wounds, he added. The attacker was killed when Americans and Afghan soldiers returned fire, he said.
The threat of insider attacks has become so serious that foreign soldiers working with Afghan forces are regularly watched over by so-called guardian angel troops to provide protection from their supposed allies.
ISAF officials say that most insider attacks stem from personal grudges and cultural misunderstandings rather than Taliban insurgent plots. Afghan soldiers and police are taking on responsibility for battling the militants from 87,000 Nato combat troops who will leave by the end of 2014 - 13 years after a US-led invasion brought down the Taliban regime.
But the 350,000-strong security forces are suffering a steep rise in casualties as the NATO combat mission winds down and Afghan authorities try to bring stability ahead of the presidential poll set for April next year.
On Friday Afghanistans interior ministry confirmed that 18 policemen had been killed in a Taliban ambush in the northeastern province of Badakhshan.
The policemen, who were returning from an anti-insurgent operation in the town of Warduj, were ambushed by scores of armed militants resulting in a fierce firefight in which eighteen officers were killed and thirteen others injured, the interior ministry said in a statement.
The attack and casualties will heighten concerns that Afghan forces cannot provide effective security across the country, where a US-led invasion ousted the hardline Taliban regime in 2001, in time for the presidential election due in April. ...
Afghan soldier shoots dead three US troops
