Four NATO soldiers were killed yesterday in the second suspected attack by Afghan police in two days, as officials detailed unprecedented damage from a Taliban assault on the base where Britain’s Prince Harry is deployed.
Afghan authorities said the shooting took place in Zabul Province, part of the restive south where the more than 10-year Taliban insurgency is traditionally strongest, but the Islamist militia denied responsibility.
The US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) released few details other than that it was “suspected to involve members of the Afghan police.”
Ghulam Jilani, the deputy police chief in Zabul, said a police post in Mizana district came under attack, but that after NATO troops arrived to help, a policeman opened fire on the Westerners.
A senior provincial official confirmed that NATO forces came under fire, and that the Westerners returned fire, killing one policeman.
“Three to four other policemen have disappeared. At the moment, we don’t know where they have gone. We don’t know if they fled fearing arrest or if they are linked to the Taliban,” he said on condition of anonymity.
Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said those responsible were not infiltrators.
“He was just an Afghan who did this out [of] goodwill,” he said.
Yesterday’s deaths took to 51 the number of Western soldiers killed by their Afghan colleagues since the start of the year, in a growing trend that jeopardizes NATO plans to train local forces to take over when they leave.
Two British soldiers were killed in a similar attack on Saturday in the southern province of Helmand. The British defense ministry said they were shot by a man wearing the uniform of the Afghan Local Police at a checkpoint.
This month, US special forces suspended training for about 1,000 recruits to the controversial unit, which fights in remote areas of the countryside. It has also been accused of corruption and violence toward civilians.
Afghanistan says it has arrested or sacked hundreds of Afghan soldiers for suspected insurgency links in a bid to stem the so-called insider attacks.
NATO attributes about 75 percent of the attacks to grudges, misunderstandings and cultural differences. The Afghan defense ministry this month published a brochure for the Afghan army with advice on how not to misunderstand Westerners.
The military yesterday detailed unprecedented damage from a sophisticated, well-coordinated attack on one of the largest NATO bases in the country, Camp Bastion, where Britain’s third in line to the throne is deployed.
Two US Marines were killed and several others wounded in the assault late on Friday, which was carried out by at least 15 attackers dressed in US Army uniforms and armed with guns, rockets and suicide vests.
NATO yesterday confirmed the material losses as six US AV-8B Harrier fighter jets destroyed and two significantly damaged, three coalition refueling stations destroyed and six aircraft hangars damaged.
“The insurgents appeared to be well equipped, trained and rehearsed,” ISAF said in a statement.
The militia claimed the assault was to avenge a US-made film deemed insulting to Islam that has sparked deadly riots across the Middle East and North Africa.
While the Taliban have vowed to kill Prince Harry, one of its spokesmen said that the assault “had nothing to do with the prince.”
The attack raises serious questions about how insurgents managed to penetrate such a massive logistics hub in the desert, home to 28,000 soldiers.
The military also announced the arrest of a purported Taliban leader, who it said was responsible for bringing down a helicopter that killed two US troops on Sept. 5.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including