Saturday, August 11, 2012

Afghan 'peace partner' invites US soldiers to holy meal for Ramadan, Afghan shoots all 4 soldiers killing 3, Obama says US deaths 'negligible'

.
8/10/12, "Afghan policeman kills 3 US troops 'at Ramadan meal'," SaturdayNation, nation.co.ke

"An Afghan police officer opened fire on four American soldiers he had invited for a meal Friday, killing three of them, Afghan officials said, in the third so-called green-on-blue assault in just four days.

The US military in Afghanistan confirmed that three US soldiers had been killed by "an individual in an Afghan uniform" in Sangin district of southern Helmand province, but gave no further details.

The deaths take the toll of those killed in green-on-blue attacks, in which Afghan forces turn their weapons against their NATO allies, to around 33 this year in some 23 such incidents, according to an AFP tally.

Two Afghan officials told AFP that the soldiers were shot dead by an Afghan police officer who had invited them for a meal at his checkpost in the restive southern province.

"Asadullah, the police checkpost commander, invited four foreign special forces soldiers to a (Ramadan) breakfast at 2:30 am in Sangin district," a senior security officer in the province said, requesting anonymity.

"He later opened fire on the special forces soldiers, killing three and wounding another, and he managed to run away."

Sangin district chief Mohammad Sharif also told AFP that four foreign soldiers had been killed by the checkpost commander after he invited them to a meal.

Breakfast is eaten before sunrise during the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from then until the evening meal at dusk.

Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack, saying seven US special forces soldiers had been killed.

"Asadullah joined the mujahideen ranks after the killing," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by telephone.

The Taliban regularly exaggerate attacks or claim credit for killing foreign soldiers even if they are not involved.

An increasing number of Afghan soldiers and police have turned their weapons against NATO colleagues helping them to fight a decade-long insurgency by the Taliban Islamists, who were ousted from power in a US-led invasion in 2001....

On Tuesday, an American soldier was killed in the east when two men in Afghan army uniform opened fire, and on Thursday an Afghan soldier was killed after turning his weapon on NATO troops, also in the east.

Some of the attacks are claimed by the Taliban, who say they have infiltrated the ranks of Afghan security forces, but many are attributed to cultural differences and antagonism between local and US-led allied forces.

The White House said Friday the military impact of Afghan forces turning their guns on NATO trainers was "negligible"."...via Drudge

.

No comments: