Two NATO soldiers shot by man wearing Afghan army uniform

 
Fatal shooting: Two NATO troops were killed
26 March 2012

A man in an Afghan army uniform shot and killed two NATO soldiers today inside a base in southern Afghanistan, officials said.

NATO said in a statement that an individual wearing an Afghan soldier's uniform turned his weapon against international troops. Coalition forces then returned fire.

"The gunman was shot and killed," said NATO spokesman Maj. Jason Waggoner. He declined to provide further details.

There have been more than 45 attacks by Afghans on NATO colleagues in Afghanistan since 2007, more than 75 percent of those in the last two years, according to Pentagon data.

It is also possible that the assailant was an insurgent who donned an Afghan army uniform to get into the base or to get closer to his targets. Army uniforms are readily available in Afghan markets and militants have used the tactic in the past to launch sneak attacks.

A Western official in southern Afghanistan confirmed that the incident happened at the main NATO base in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, but declined to give further information. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been officially released.

Monday's attack also comes two weeks after a U.S. soldier allegedly went on a pre-dawn shooting rampage in neighboring Kandahar province, killing at least 16 people and wounding six.

The Lashkar Gah base is dominated by British forces and a NATO official said the two victims were British soldiers. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not yet been formally announced.

Britain's Ministry of Defense said it was aware of the incident, but refused to release any more details or confirm whether the soldiers were British.

The attack appeared to be the latest in a string of so-called "green on blue" attacks in which Afghan security forces have turned on their international colleagues or mentors. Such attacks have become increasingly common over the past year, particularly since the burning of Qurans at a U.S. base in February.

Six U.S. soldiers were killed in apparent revenge attacks following that act, which also sparked riots that left dozens of Afghans dead. U.S. officials have said the religious materials were burned by mistake.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in