Two British NATO troops killed in attack by shooter wearing Afghan army uniform

www.homelandsecuritynet.com

KABUL — A gunman wearing an Afghan National Army uniform Monday turned his weapon against NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, killing two British soldiers.

“The individual who opened fire was killed when coalition forces returned fire,” the International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. “A joint Afghan and ISAF team is investigating the incident.”

An Afghan official and a Western security source later confirmed that both victims were British, AFP reported.

The Western source, who requested anonymity, added that an Afghan soldier was also shot dead, as well as the gunman, and another Briton was wounded.

The incident happened inside a base used by civilian and military personnel working in a provincial reconstruction team in Lashkar Gah, the main town in Helmand province, a senior Afghan official said.

The man approached the base from outside and there was allegedly an argument before the man opened fire, the official added.

Elsewhere, a suicide bomber blew himself Monday outside a US-run base in the Chora district of Uruzgan, also in southern Afghanistan, injuring three foreign troops and an Afghan police officer.

The attacks come in the wake of the shooting rampage by a US soldier in southern Kandahar province on March 11, which killed 17 people, including nine children.

Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents vowed revenge against “sick-minded American savages.”

Days later, an Afghan man drove a stolen SUV toward a group of Marines at Camp Bastion in Helmand, where they were awaiting the arrival of the plane carrying US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Although no one was hurt in the incident, officials believe Panetta may have been in the assailant’s path if the SUV had reached the runway just a few minutes later.

Just weeks earlier the burning of Korans by American soldiers at a US detention facility north of Kabul prompted anti-American riots across the country, leaving some 30 protesters dead.

Six US troops were also killed in three separate attacks on American personnel by Afghan service members amid the unrest. Altogether, 13 foreign troops have been killed in so-called “green-on-blue” attacks this year.

In a separate incident, ISAF said one of its aircrafts made a “hard landing” Sunday in southern Afghanistan.

“ISAF is still in the process of assessing the circumstances to determine more facts; however, initial reporting indicates that there was no enemy activity in the area,” an ISAF statement said. “All personnel on the aircraft were recovered with no reported casualties.”