Gunman dressed as police officer kills 2 NATO soldiers in eastern Afghanistan

Gunman dressed as police officer kills 2 NATO soldiers in eastern Afghanistan

2011-04-04 15:41:45 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- A gunman dressed as an Afghan police officer killed two coalition service members in eastern Afghanistan on Monday morning, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

ISAF said the attack happened in the eastern province of Faryab, which is relatively calm compared to the southern region of Afghanistan. The alliance provided few details about the location and time of the attack.

"According to initial reporting, an individual in an Afghan Border Police uniform fired on the ISAF members inside a compound," an ISAF spokesperson said. "The individual who fired the shots fled the scene."

ISAF also confirmed that another service member was killed in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, but gave no other details. "An International Security Assistance Force service member died following an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan yesterday," the alliance said in a brief statement.

Coalition casualties in Afghanistan have been rising sharply in recent years, with a total coalition death toll of 709 in 2010, making it the deadliest year for international troops since the war began 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 of 9/11, which killed nearly 3,000 people from scores of countries, was considered an attack on all NATO nations. The NATO-backed war in Afghanistan aims to defeat the Taliban and other insurgent groups in the country.

So far this year, more than 100 coalition service members have been killed in Afghanistan. Most troops are killed in the country's south, which is plagued by IED attacks on troops and civilians.

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