The death were the first for Albanian troop in Afghanistan. Another international soldier was wounded.
Monday’s shooting occurred in the village of Robat, in the southern district of Spin Boldak near the Pakistani border, Kandahar police chief Abdul Raziq said. The troops were accompanying a USAID team for a meeting about opening two schools and a health cente, Albania’s defense ministry said.
The soldiers “found themselves attacked by a group of persons wearing uniforms of the Afghan police,” Brig. Gen. Viktor Berdo, head of Albanian land forces, told reporters in Tirana.
The Albanian ministry said the remaining soldiers “arrested 11 Afghan policemen who opened fire.”
In Monday’s incident, the attackers opened fire with five assault rifles and one light automatic machine gun, the Albanian Defense Ministry said.
An Albanian captain died later of his wounds in a hospital in the southern city of Kandahar. Albanian officials initially said a corporal also was killed, but later clarified that the soldier was in a coma, adding "there is still hope of improvement."
Another international soldier was wounded in the incident, the ministry said. There was no immediate information on that soldier's nationality.
Albanian President Bamir Topi denounced the attack as a “grave terrorist act” and called for the punishment of those responsible.
Albania has 265 troops in Afghanistan. The two killed were part of a contingent that left Albania in mid-January for six-month tour of duty.
complied from several sources
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ISAF Press Release:
KABUL, Afghanistan – An individual wearing the uniform of the Afghan Uniformed Police turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service members in southern Afghanistan today, killing one service member.
It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.
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Washington Time
Kabul Time
London Time
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