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5 killed, 12 injured in Jalrez insider attack

5 killed, 12 injured in Jalrez insider attack

author avatar
11 Mar 2013 - 14:48
5 killed, 12 injured in Jalrez insider attack
author avatar
11 Mar 2013 - 14:48

KABUL): Two US soldiers and three Afghan commandos were killed and six other Americans were wounded when a local policeman opened fire at them in the Jalrez district of central Maidan Wardak province on Monday, officials said.

The latest insider attack took place as US and Afghan security official left a meeting at a base in the Khwaja Mohammad Wali area. The base is shared between United States special forces and Afghan personnel in the town west of Kabul.

A fierce gun-battle followed the attack that left as many as a dozen other US and Afghan troops wounded, including the district police commander..

A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack began around 11am when a rogue member of the Afghan Local Police (ALP) opened fire at the joint troops coming out after attending the meeting.

“It was a sudden attack. An Afghan commando commander was killed along with two others and three Afghan soldiers were injured and at least eight US troops were killed and wounded,” he said.

Some national police members, including the Jalrez district police chief Col. Allauddin, were also wounded, he said, but had no specific figures.

ISAF and coalition servicemembers and wounding several others.

An ISAF statement said Afghan and coalition officials were looking into the circumstances of the incident. The force could not confirm if the Jalrez district police chief was in the vicinity at the time of the attack.

A uniformed man opened fire at Afghan and US Special Forces in Jalrez, wounding members of both Afghan and US forces, a separate ISAF statement said, adding the assailant was killed during the attack.

The joint forces secured the site and tended to the casualties following the attack and the wounded were evacuated by helicopter to multiple medical facilities to receive treatment and their conditions were currently unknown, it said.

The names of the injured were being withheld pending notification of the next of kin, the statement said.  No civilian casualties or structure damage was reported. The reason for the attack is currently under investigation.

The Associated Press reported an Afghan police officer stood up in the back of a police pickup truck, grabbed hold of a machine gun and started firing at US special operations forces and Afghan police in the police compound.

The attack comes as US defence secretary wrapped up his three-day visit to Kabul. It comes a day after President Karzai accused the US and the Taliban.

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