Gunman kills six NATO troops in eastern Afghanistan

Gunman kills six NATO troops in eastern Afghanistan

2010-11-29 20:38:07 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Six NATO service members were killed on Monday when a gunman wearing an Afghan police uniform opened fire on coalition troops in eastern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

ISAF said the shooting attack happened during a training mission in eastern Afghanistan, but provided few other details about the attack itself or the location as is usual per ISAF policy.

The deadly attack appeared to have been carried out by a single individual who was wearing an Afghan Border Police uniform, although it was not immediately clear if he was in fact an Afghan police officer. "All we know right now is the individual who fired on ISAF troops was wearing an Afghan Border Police uniform," an ISAF spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the attack did not occur at a NATO base and promised more information at a later date. "Once next of kin notification has occurred, we'll have more specific information," the spokesperson added.

The gunman who opened fire on the ISAF forces was also killed in the incident, but it was not immediately clear if the gunman was killed by ISAF troops or if he had committed suicide. "We're sending a joint initial assessment team out and will also have more following their return," the spokesperson added.

Due to ISAF policy, the nationalities of the fallen service members were not immediately released. "It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities," the alliance said.

There have been several incidents this year in which Afghan police and Afghan soldiers have attacked ISAF troops. Most recently, early this month, a gunman believed to be an Afghan soldier killed two coalition service members in northern Afghanistan.

Coalition casualties in Afghanistan have been rising sharply this year, with around 90 fatalities in July alone, making it the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the war began on October 7, 2001 in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) eventually declared that the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people from scores of countries, was considered an attack on all NATO nations. The NATO-backed war aims to defeat the Taliban and other insurgent groups in the country.

So far this year, at least 668 coalition service members have been killed in Afghanistan. Most of them were American and died in Afghanistan's war-torn southern region. In 2009, the total death toll stood at 521.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-11-29