Afghan soldier shoots 2 US troops

KABUL: An Afghan army soldier turned his gun on his NATO colleagues on Monday injuring two US troops, officials said, just a day after a local policeman killed three foreign trainers in a similar attack. The incident in the northern province of Faryab is the latest in a series of so-called ‘green-on-blue’ attacks involving members of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) targeting their NATO allies. "An Afghan army soldier opened fire on US soldiers inside a military base and injured two US soldiers. The attacker was killed in return fire," Faryab's Deputy Provincial Governor Abdul Satar Barez told AFP. NATO's US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), to which most of the 130,000 Western troops in Afghanistan are attached, confirmed the incident but refused to give information on casualties. "Operational reports confirm that an ANSF’s soldier turned his weapon on ISAF service members in northern Afghanistan. ISAF troops returned fire killing the shooter," an ISAF spokesman said. According to Afghan authorities the victims were helping ISAF train Afghan police. Taliban claim the attacks are carried out by terrorist’ infiltrators, but ISAF and Afghan officials say most such incidents are the result of cultural differences and friction between local and foreign forces. afp

Home | National