Afghan soldier turns his gun on US troops
Source: Agencies |
October 1, 2012, Monday
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AN Afghan soldier turned his gun on American troops at a checkpoint in the country's east, killing two Americans and two fellow members of the Afghan army.
The shooting marked both the continuance of a disturbing trend of insider attacks and the 2,000th US troop death in the long-running war, officials said yesterday.
Insider attacks are among the greatest threats to NATO's mission in the country, endangering a partnership key to training Afghan security forces and the withdrawal of international troops.
Saturday's shooting took place at an Afghan army checkpoint just outside a joint US-Afghan base in Wardak province, said Shahidullah Shahid, a provincial government spokesman.
"Initial reports indicate that a misunderstanding happened between Afghan army soldiers and American soldiers," Shahid said. Investigators had been sent to the site to try to figure out what happened. It was not clear if the assailant was killed.
The attack happened about 5pm in Sayd Abad district, said Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi.
NATO forces announced the assault early yesterday, saying only that it was "suspected insider attack" and that a NATO service member and civilian contractor were killed.
One US official confirmed that the service member killed was American, while another confirmed that the civilian was also American.
Afghan soldiers and policemen - or militants in their uniforms - have gunned down more than 50 foreign troops so far this year, eroding the trust between coalition forces and their Afghan partners.
An equal number of Afghan policemen and soldiers also died in these attacks, giving them reason as well to be suspicious of possible infiltrators within their ranks.
The attacks are taking a toll on the partnership between international and Afghan forces, prompting the US to restrict operations with small-sized Afghan units earlier this month.
The close contact - with coalition forces working side by side with Afghan troops as advisers, mentors and trainers - is a key part of the US strategy to prepare the Afghans to take over security operations as the US and other nations prepare to pull out their last troops at the end of 2014.
The number of American military dead reflects an Associated Press count of members of the armed services killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion on October 7, 2001.
The shooting marked both the continuance of a disturbing trend of insider attacks and the 2,000th US troop death in the long-running war, officials said yesterday.
Insider attacks are among the greatest threats to NATO's mission in the country, endangering a partnership key to training Afghan security forces and the withdrawal of international troops.
Saturday's shooting took place at an Afghan army checkpoint just outside a joint US-Afghan base in Wardak province, said Shahidullah Shahid, a provincial government spokesman.
"Initial reports indicate that a misunderstanding happened between Afghan army soldiers and American soldiers," Shahid said. Investigators had been sent to the site to try to figure out what happened. It was not clear if the assailant was killed.
The attack happened about 5pm in Sayd Abad district, said Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi.
NATO forces announced the assault early yesterday, saying only that it was "suspected insider attack" and that a NATO service member and civilian contractor were killed.
One US official confirmed that the service member killed was American, while another confirmed that the civilian was also American.
Afghan soldiers and policemen - or militants in their uniforms - have gunned down more than 50 foreign troops so far this year, eroding the trust between coalition forces and their Afghan partners.
An equal number of Afghan policemen and soldiers also died in these attacks, giving them reason as well to be suspicious of possible infiltrators within their ranks.
The attacks are taking a toll on the partnership between international and Afghan forces, prompting the US to restrict operations with small-sized Afghan units earlier this month.
The close contact - with coalition forces working side by side with Afghan troops as advisers, mentors and trainers - is a key part of the US strategy to prepare the Afghans to take over security operations as the US and other nations prepare to pull out their last troops at the end of 2014.
The number of American military dead reflects an Associated Press count of members of the armed services killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion on October 7, 2001.
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