Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Afghan 'soldier' opens fire on Nato troops

 

Monday 26 December 2011 05:02 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A man wearing an Afghan army uniform opened fire on coalition troops in western Afghanistan, Nato officials said today.

Unconfirmed reports said the gunman died and several alliance soldiers were wounded in Saturday's attack .

A Nato statement said there were no fatalities among alliance soldiers in the shooting at an outpost in Bala Boluk district.

If the probe confirms that the gunman was a soldier, the shooting will be the latest in a series of attacks by Afghans against coalition partners. Those shootings have raised fears of Taliban infiltration as Nato speeds up the training of Afghan security forces.

Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Gen Mohammad Zahir Azimi confirmed the attack and said Nato troops shot dead the gunman.

Coalition troops are to end their combat role in 2014, and the goal is to have 195,000 trained Afghan troops in service by next October. Afghan security forces have already started taking the lead in several regions as part of the process that will put them in charge of security across the nation by the end of 2014.

Commanders of Nato's training mission have said that coalition and Afghan forces keep a sharp eye out for possible Taliban infiltrators at the recruitment, training and deployment stages.

A Taliban statement today said that the insurgents were confident of victory and that the Nato forces would face the same fate as the Soviet invaders who withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 after an almost decade-long war.

The insurgents "are successfully withstanding all the coalition forces led by the US invaders and will make them all face the same fate that befell the Red Army," said the statement marking the 32nd anniversary of the Soviet invasion in 1979.

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in