An Afghan policeman killed two British soldiers and wounded four
more today before being killed himself in return fire in the southern
province of Helmand. The attack is the latest in the long string of
so-called green-on-blue incidents, or insider attacks, in which Afghan
security personnel have killed or wounded members of the International
Security Assistance Force. There have been nearly 60 such attacks
reported since 2008.
"An individual believed to be an Afghan Local Police member turned
his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service
members in southern Afghanistan today, killing two," the International
Security Assistance Force stated in a press release. "An ISAF service
member returned fire, killing the attacker."
ISAF did not state the nationality of the soldiers who were killed, but
TOLONews reported that the troops were British. The attack took place in the Gereshk district.
At the beginning of September, training for more than 1,000 new
recruits for the Afghan Local Police was suspended by the US's Special
Operations Command after five of its soldiers were killed over the
course of a week in August. The Afghan Local Police force is an
initiative that provides support to Afghans so they can provide security
for their own villages. The ALP have been
described as vital to ISAF's strategy. The ALP are to provide security in key districts as foreign troops continue withdrawing from Afghanistan.
Today's green-on-blue attack, or insider attack, as ISAF has begun calling them, occurred close to Camp Bastion,
where the Taliban executed a suicide assault last evening.
A team of 20 jihadists penetrated the perimeter of Camp Bastion, killed
two US Marines, and damaged several military aircraft, a hangar, and
buildings.
Camp Bastion was also the scene of
a green-on-blue attack in March,
when an Afghan interpreter hijacked an SUV and then attempted to run
down a group of US Marines, including a major general, at the airfield.
The attack took place just before Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's
plane was scheduled to land. The attacker crashed his truck and then set
himself on fire; the attacker's brother and father, also interpreters,
were both detained, as was another person also said to be an
interpreter. One British soldier was wounded during the attack.
The last green-on-blue attack took place on Aug. 28 on a base in neighboring Uruzgan province. An Afghan soldier
gunned down three Australian soldiers
and wounded two more. The attacker, a recent recruit named as Sergeant
Hikmatullah, climbed over the base's fence after the attack and ran
away.
Helmand province has seen the greatest number of green-on-blue
attacks. Of the 58 reported attacks since 2008 in Afghanistan, 16, or
28%, have occurred in Helmand. A significant number of green-on-blue
attacks have also taken place in Kandahar province, where there have
been nine attacks, or nearly 16% of the total number.
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