Naharnet

Taliban Kills 10 Police as Man in Afghan Army Uniform Shoots Dead 2 NATO Troops

A Taliban bomb attack killed 10 Afghan police returning from a recruitment center in southern Afghanistan's restive Helmand province on Thursday, the local government said.

The victims were members of the U.S.-funded Afghan Local Police (ALP) set up last year and touted as key to a handover of security control, which will see all foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan in theory by the end of 2014.

"Ten local police were killed and one was injured after their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand province," provincial governor's spokesman Daud Ahmadi said.

The bombing came the same day a man wearing an Afghan army uniform shot dead two members of NATO's U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force, military officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack which they said targeted French troops in Kapisa province, which is east of the capital Kabul.

"An individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon against two International Security Assistance Forces service members in eastern Afghanistan, today, killing both service members," a coalition statement said.

ISAF said it was investigating but did not identify the nationality of the victims in line with policy.

The French presidency confirmed later that the dead soldiers were French troops.

"During a support mission with the Afghan National Army (ANA) in the Tagab valley, the two non-commissioned officers were mortally wounded by deliberate fire from an Afghan soldier," a statement said.

Source: Agence France Presse


Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/24829