Deadly attacks hit NATO and Afghans

KABUL

A wounded Afghan talks with a security guard at the scene of the explosion.

A man dressed in Afghan army fatigues yesterday shot dead two French soldiers in what appeared to be the latest attack by a member of the Afghan security forces on NATO troops. Also, a bomb attack killed 10 Afghan police officers returning from a recruitment center in southern Afghanistan’s restive Helmand province.

“An individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon against two International Security Assistance Forces service members in eastern Afghanistan, today, killing both service members,” an ISAF statement said. 

Attacks bring the December toll for NATO troops killed in Afghanistan to 25, while the year’s toll so far is 541. The yearly total is considerably lower than for 2010, when more than 700 troops died. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack.

The victims of the latter were members of the U.S.-funded Afghan Local Police (ALP) set up last year and touted as key to a handover of security control, which will see all foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan in theory by the end of 2014. 

“Ten local police were killed and one was injured after their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand province,” provincial governor’s spokesman Daud Ahmadi said. There are around 130,000 international troops in Afghanistan, mainly from the United States.


Compiled from AFP and AP stories by the Daily News staff.