Gunman dressed as Afghan soldier kills NATO soldier

[News_Editor]

Gunman dressed as Afghan soldier kills NATO soldier

2011-05-30 20:37:23 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- A gunman dressed as an Afghan National Army soldier shot and killed a coalition service member in southern Afghanistan on Monday morning, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

Monday's shooting is the latest incident in a series of similar incidents. According to ISAF, the gunman turned his weapon against an ISAF service member, fatally wounding him. It was not immediately known if the shooter was in fact an Afghan soldier.

"The incident is under investigation. The shooter has not yet been caught, although there is an ongoing search," an ISAF spokesperson said, without revealing the nationality of the service member. "It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities."

On Saturday, seven people were killed when a suicide bomber dressed as a police officer targeted a high-profile meeting at the Governor's Palace in Takhar province. The attack killed a powerful Afghan police chief, General Daud Daud, and provincial police chief Brig. Gen. Shah Jehan Noori.

And in April, two coalition service members were killed when a man dressed as an Afghan Border Police officer opened fire in eastern Afghanistan. The gunman fled the scene.

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.

So far this year, 211 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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