Monday, July 2, 2012

British troops killed by gunman in Afghan police uniform

Two served with the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and one with the Royal Corps of Signals. Next of kin have been told.
The MoD said the soldiers were shot and fatally wounded as they left a checkpoint in Helmand province.
More than 20 foreign personnel have been killed in so-called rogue shootings in Afghanistan this year.
An MoD spokesman said: "Their loss will be felt deeply across the task force, however that will be nothing compared with the grief experienced by their families at home. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this extremely difficult time."
The gunman was injured and later detained, Nato said.
The soldiers were part of a Nato-led Isaf force who have been training Afghan counterparts ahead of a handover of security responsibility by 2014.
Growing resentment Observers say the rogue shootings have eroded morale among foreign forces.
BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt says background checks are carried out on Afghan troops and police in a bid to ensure that people are not sympathetic to insurgent factions.
Isaf, Nato's force in the country, said in a statement on Sunday: "An individual wearing an Afghan National Civil Order Police uniform turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service members in southern Afghanistan today, killing three service members."
In February public opinion against the foreign forces in Afghanistan was inflamed by revelations that US troops burned copies of the Koran at a base in Afghanistan - reportedly by accident.
The shooting of 16 Afghans by a US soldier in March has also created resentment.

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