Green-On-Blue Attacks Kill Eight NATO Soldiers In Helmand
Xinhua News Agency
August 11, 2012
Green-on-blue attacks leave 8 NATO soldiers dead in S. Afghanistan
By Abdul Haleem, Chen Xin
KABUL: So-called green-on-blue attacks or shooting at NATO-led soldiers by men in military uniform have claimed the lives of eight service members in the Taliban hotbed of southern Helmand province over the past three days, the inspector general police of Helmand province said Saturday.
“The so-called green-on-blue attacks have left eight foreign soldiers dead over the past three days in Helmand province,” Abdul Nabi Ilham confirmed in a press conference.
He also said in the latest such incidents, he received reports of three foreign soldiers killed by a man in a police uniform in the Garmsir district on Friday night and had sent a delegation to the Garmsir district for investigation.
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Earlier, an official in Helmand’s provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, on the condition of anonymity said that three foreign soldiers were shot dead in the Garmsir district of Helmand province on Friday.
“A sixth grade student who also worked for police opened fire on foreign soldiers in police department of Germsir district on Friday evening, killing three American soldiers,” the official told Xinhua but declined to give his name.
Meantime, another official said four soldiers were killed in the incident.
This is the second attack of its nature in the former Taliban stronghold of Helmand province.
In the previous incident which also happened on Friday, a police commander invited U.S. soldiers in the Sangin district to attend a party gathering. After having a meal, he opened fire, killing three on the spot and injuring another.
Meantime, the district governor of Sangin confirmed the deadly incident committed by a police commander named Assadullah.
“Assadullah, the commander of a police station in Sangin district, invited some soldiers of the international force for a party in Bostanzoi village last night and after having a meal he opened fire, killing three soldiers and injuring another,” Mohammad Sharif the governor of Sangin district told Xinhua.
“The attacker, after committing the crime, escaped the scene and rejoined Taliban militants,” he added.
Assadullah, according to locals had served the police for the past seven years.
Meantime, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in talks with media via telephone from an unknown location, said that Assadullah was a member of Taliban and after killing the foreign soldiers he rejoined the outfit.
Spokesman for Helmand’s provincial administration, Daud Ahmadi also confirmed the incident, saying the murderer of NATO soldiers escaped and rejoined the Taliban militants.
Ahmadi also added that the victims belonged to U.S. special forces stationed in the Sangin district.
Meantime, the NATO-led ISAF in a statement released here on Saturday confirmed losing three service members of the alliance in attack in the southern part of militancy-plagued Afghanistan on Friday.
“Three International Security Assistance Force service members died following an attack in southern Afghanistan yesterday (Friday) ,” the statement confirmed without identifying the victims’ nationality.
A statement released by U.S. forces on August 10 also confirmed that three U.S. Forces-Afghanistan service members died following an attack by an individual wearing an Afghan uniform in southwest Afghanistan Friday.
Meantime, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit, in talks with media via telephone from an unknown location stressed that seven foreign soldiers had been killed and four others injured by their loyalists in Helmand over the past two days.
