Afghan cop dies, Nato soldier injured in ‘insider attack’

KANDAHAR: Two Afghan police officers were killed and a Nato soldier was wounded in an apparent insider attack in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said.

The so-called "green on blue" attack happened at Kandahar airfield when Nato advisers, who had completed a training session with their Afghan counterparts, were returning to their base, Nato said.

"Romanian soldiers... returned fire in self-defence and killed the gunman," the statement said, adding that the attacker was a member of the Afghan National Civil Order Police. A Romanian soldier was wounded in the attack,” Nato said. Police spokesman Abdul Hamid Mubarez said that foreign troops opened fire on their forces after a “verbal clash” with them. He said one police officer was killed at the scene and another who was wounded died later in hospital.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Western officials say most insider attacks stem from personal grudges and cultural misunderstandings rather than insurgent plots.

The incident comes as the United States ponders sending more American troops to Afghanistan and it came at the end of a difficult week for foreign forces in the war-torn country.

Two US soldiers died when a Taliban suicide bomber rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into their convoy in Kandahar on Wednesday. — AFP

News Desk adds: More than 40 Taliban militants and four soldiers were killed in intense clashes in Gereshk district of southern Afghan province of Helmand, authorities said.

According to Xinhua, the clashes started after Taliban attacked security posts in separate locations by car bombs and motorcycle bombs, but security forces fought back the attackers, killing over 40 attackers, the provincial government said in a statement.

Earlier, four gunmen seized a five-storey building in the district’s bazaar, triggering gun battle.

“Afghan commandos killed two armed men in money exchange market building at midday and efforts are underway to kill or capture remaining militants,” the statement reads.