3 U.S. Troops Killed by Afghan Gunman

Three U.S. special operations soldiers were killed by a uniformed Afghan in the country’s southern Helmand province in the latest in a series of “green-on-blue” attacks in which Afghan police or soldiers turn their weapons on coalition troops.

Such attacks have become all too common. On Tuesday, uniformed Afghan gunmen killed an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for some of the attacks. The killings have increased tensions between Afghan officials and NATO military leaders.

—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

BBC:

A Nato spokeswoman told the Reuters news agency that it was too early to say whether it was a “rogue shooting or due to insurgent infiltration”.

“All we know is that they were killed by an Afghan in a uniform of some sort,” the spokeswoman said.

Throughout 2012 there has been a dramatic jump in “green-on-blue” killings, amounting to an average of one a week.

Read more

AfghanistanMatters (CC BY 2.0)

An Afghan soldier performs security duty in Balkh province.