 An Afghan soldier fired on fellow troops Thursday, killing five and wounding six, before he was shot and killed by other Afghan soldiers, the U.S. military said. Elsewhere, Afghan police killed a Taliban commander and captured his deputy in a shootout. The motive for the soldier's shooting spree was unclear. It took place inside a coalition base in southern Helmand province early Thursday. "The soldier who initiated the shooting was returning from guard duty at the time of the incident and, currently, no information is available as to his motives," a statement issued by the U.S. military said. The wounded were evacuated to the main American base in southern Afghanistan at Kandahar for treatment. The statement said five Afghan National Army soldiers were killed and six wounded before other soldiers shot the attacker. "No evidence indicates this attack was conducted by any anti-coalition militia forces," it added. A spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry confirmed the incident and said officials were traveling their to investigate. | Maybe he was just having a bad day? |
Coalition forces often operate alongside the U.S.-trained Afghan army, which currently has 18,000 soldiers. It plans to recruit and train 70,000. The captured Taliban commander, Mullah Mohammed Ullah, and his deputy Mullah Mohammed Ghafar were cornered as they traveled by motorbike in a village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on Wednesday, an official said. They opened fire when police tried to stop and arrest them, sparking a shootout in which Ullah and one policeman were killed and three other officers wounded, said Mohammed Wali, spokesman for the provincial governor. Ghafar was wounded. Wali said that the two men were Taliban leaders in Musa Qala, and had led an attack on the district chief's office last year that left at least four Afghan soldiers dead. |