Man in Afghan uniform kills 2 British troops
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A man wearing an Afghan police uniform shot and killed two British soldiers at a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, international military officials said.
The assault appeared to the be the latest in a string of insider attacks that have threatened the partnership between international troops and the Afghan forces they are trying to train to take over responsibility for the country's security.
A statement from the NATO military coalition said only that the assailant was wearing a police uniform, leaving open the possibility that the attacker was a militant posing as a policeman. The statement did not provide details on the shooting, saying it was being investigated.
The British Ministry of Defense said the attack happened at a checkpoint in Helmand Province's Nahri Sarraj district.
"The loss of these soldiers is a huge blow," Maj. Laurence Roche, a spokesman for British troops in Helmand, said in a statement.
The two killed soldiers were with the 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, he said.
At least 53 international troops have been killed in attacks by Afghan soldiers or police this year, and a number of other assaults are still under investigation, the international alliance has said.
The surge in insider attacks is throwing doubt on the capability of the Afghan security forces to take over from international troops ahead of a planned handover to the Afghans in 2014. It has further undermined public support for the 11-year war in NATO countries.
The attacks have not been limited to members of the NATO-led international coalition. More than 50 Afghan members of the government's security forces also have died this in attacks by their own colleagues.
The assault appeared to the be the latest in a string of insider attacks that have threatened the partnership between international troops and the Afghan forces they are trying to train to take over responsibility for the country's security.
A statement from the NATO military coalition said only that the assailant was wearing a police uniform, leaving open the possibility that the attacker was a militant posing as a policeman. The statement did not provide details on the shooting, saying it was being investigated.
The British Ministry of Defense said the attack happened at a checkpoint in Helmand Province's Nahri Sarraj district.
"The loss of these soldiers is a huge blow," Maj. Laurence Roche, a spokesman for British troops in Helmand, said in a statement.
The two killed soldiers were with the 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, he said.
At least 53 international troops have been killed in attacks by Afghan soldiers or police this year, and a number of other assaults are still under investigation, the international alliance has said.
The surge in insider attacks is throwing doubt on the capability of the Afghan security forces to take over from international troops ahead of a planned handover to the Afghans in 2014. It has further undermined public support for the 11-year war in NATO countries.
The attacks have not been limited to members of the NATO-led international coalition. More than 50 Afghan members of the government's security forces also have died this in attacks by their own colleagues.
It looks like the only people in Afghanistan who aren't our allies are the Afghanies.
Time to pack up the troops and send them home and let Afghanistan waller in their own mess..
@Windowseat yep.and if al Qaeda returns, bomb them until the rubble bounces
@LockesChild  A drone a day keeps al Qaeda away.
 @MidnightRambler I would say more like a few dozen fuel-air bombs is more like it.Â
How many days h as it been on the media blackout of the Benghazi killings? Working hard for Obama's re-election?
Was it because of a You Tube movie....??
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Is NATO forces code for more Americans died under Obama's watch...?
These third world countries wish to remain in the stone ages. So be it. Let them determine their own destiny.
I wonder how Congress would feel working with others dressed like them and never knowing if they would be gunned down? This is what our Congress expects our military to do work alongside combatants that wear uniforms of Afghan soldiers and deal with combatants that wear no uniform. It's apparent these war(s) are going nowhere and accomplishing nothing. For every insurgent killed three more springs forth.... (insane)Â :(