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Man in Afghan soldier’s gear attacks NATO troops, is killed

Insider attacks are a concern in handoff of security duties

The Columbian
Published: October 26, 2013, 5:00pm

KABUL — A man in an Afghan soldier’s uniform was killed and a NATO service member wounded Saturday, officials said, in the latest in a series of so-called insider attacks that fuel distrust as international forces are handing off more security responsibilities to their Afghan counterparts.

The attack took place Saturday after an argument between an Afghan and a foreign soldier at a military base on the outskirts of Kabul, said Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman for the Afghan defense ministry.

Lt. Col. LaTondra Kinley, a spokeswoman for the NATO-led coalition, said international troops were attacked by a man in an Afghan uniform who was subsequently killed, adding that as a matter of policy the coalition doesn’t discuss the wounded or the nationalities of those involved.

It was the fourth such attack in recent weeks. Attacks by Afghan servicemen on their NATO colleagues reportedly have accounted for 15 international troop casualties this year and about 15 percent of all foreign deaths in 2012.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

According to the independent website icasualties.org, 144 international troops have been killed this year in Afghanistan in all types of incidents, 115 of them Americans. Approximately 86,000 foreign soldiers from 49 nations remain in the impoverished central Asian nation, among them 60,000 Americans.

All foreign combat troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and Afghan forces have been taking a growing role in front-line operations. Consequently, the number of foreign fatalities has fallen — 144 deaths from January to Oct. 26 compared with 371 January through October in 2012 — while deaths among Afghan troops have increased.

Although most NATO troop deaths have resulted from insurgent attacks, at least 60 were reported in insider attacks in 2012.

International commanders have changed operating procedures to include designating a NATO guard when Afghan soldiers are present. Contact also has been reduced, as have the number of weapons Afghan troops can carry when they are with foreign troops. But this has made Afghans feel like second-class partners at a time when NATO is supposed to be training and mentoring them.

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