2 More Americans Gunned Down by Afghani Soldier trained by U.S. Forces

Military.com AP & CBS News

afghan-gunmen-kill-2-u.s-troops

March 01, 2012

Associated Press|by Patrick Quinn

KABUL, Afghanistan — Gunmen, including one believed to be an Afghan soldier, killed two American troops Thursday in southern Afghanistan, just hours after the top NATO commander in the country allowed some foreign advisers to return to work at government ministries.

The shootings were the latest in a series of attacks by Afghan security forces – or militants disguised in their uniforms – against Americans and other members of the international alliance. Six NATO servicemembers have been killed in this way in less than two weeks as tensions rise over the burning of Qurans at a U.S. military base.

Two U.S. military advisers were found dead of gunshot wounds to the head on Feb. 25 inside their office at the Afghan Interior Ministry. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the ministry shootings, saying they were conducted in retaliation for last week’s Quran burnings, but no one has been arrested in the case.

In the latest incident NATO said a man in an Afghan army uniform and another in civilian clothes opened fired on coalition and Afghan soldiers, killing two foreign troops. Officials have since confirmed that the dead are Americans.

A district chief in southern Kandahar’s Zhari district said the shootings took place on a NATO base when an Afghan civilian who taught a literacy course for Afghan soldiers and lived on the base started shooting at NATO troops. Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi said the shootings occurred at 3 a.m. and that NATO troops returned fire and killed the man and an Afghan soldier.

Mohammad Mohssan, an Afghan Army spokesman in Kandahar city, said the incident occurred at a base in Zhari and involved two Afghans, one of whom was a soldier. He said the two opened fire on an Afghan sentry at a security tower, then climbed it and began shooting at NATO troops. He said both were killed. Read the rest here.

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