Troops lured to death with dinner invitation | Aussies At War

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Troops lured to death with dinner invitation | Aussies At War

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Posted on August 11, 2012 Written by Trevor DixonLeave a Comment(Edit)

Updated August 10, 2012 19:12:48 ABC News

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PHOTO: The men, all American special forces members, were killed on Thursday night while attending a meeting. (ABC News)

An Afghan police commander and several of his men killed three US soldiers in the southern province of Helmand, turning guns on them after inviting them to a dinner to discuss security, Afghan officials said on Friday.

The men were all American special forces members and were killed on Thursday night while attending a meeting in the Sarwan Qala area, in what appeared to be a planned attack by rogue Afghan forces.

The Sangin district chief in the southern province, Mohammad Sharif, said three foreign special forces soldiers had been killed by an Afghan policeman after he had invited them to dinner.

“Last night, a police checkpost commander invited three foreign special forces soldiers to a dinner party at the checkpost. He later killed them and ran away,” he said.

A spokeswoman for NATO-led forces in the country confirmed the incident but said it was too early to say whether it was a rogue shooting or due to insurgent infiltration.

“All we know is that they were killed by an Afghan in a uniform of some sort,” the spokeswoman said.

So-called green-on-blue shootings, in which Afghan police or soldiers turn their guns on their Western colleagues, have seriously eroded trust between the allies as NATO combat soldiers prepare to hand over to Afghan forces by 2014, after which most foreign forces will leave the country.

According to NATO, there have been 24 such attacks on foreign troops since January in which 28 people have been killed, not including Thursday’s attack. Last year, there were 21 attacks in which 35 people were killed.

Four Australians have been killed by Afghan troops during the conflict, while another three have been seriously injured.

Another foreign soldier was killed in the south on Friday during an insurgent attack, NATO said, while seven civilians were killed and three were wounded by an insurgent roadside bomb, also in Helmand.

In a grim 24 hours for the NATO-led force, three US soldiers and an American aid worker were killed earlier on Thursday in the eastern province of Kunar in an attack by a suicide bomber.

AFP/Reuters

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-warafghanistanunited-kingdom

First posted August 10, 2012 18:38:12

Filed Under: News, War in Afghanistan

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