Spanish trainers shot dead by Afghan

Two Western police trainers were shot dead by their Afghan driverduring a training session in the west of the country yesterday.

The gunmen was then killed by colleagues of his victims, members of the Spanish Civil Guard in Afghanistan to instruct local officers.

The attack in Badghis province, which also killed a local interpreter, appeared to be the latest in a series by infiltrators.

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Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said: "I can't say if the Taliban were behind this or not. But what is clear is that it was a premeditated attack.

"The person who opened fire knew exactly what he was doing. Therefore, this was a terrorist attack."

He said the gunman was the regular driver of one of the dead Spaniards but was not a policeman himself. The man had worked with the Spanish police unit since it arrived in Afghanistan five months ago.

The officers, both 33, were members of the Civil Guard,a paramilitary unit under the command of the Interior Ministry. Their translator was a Spanish citizen of Iranian origin.

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Nato said the shooting of the Spanish officers came during a "mentoring session" between its forces and the Afghan police.

Intentional shootings by Afghans working for Nato are a growing concern for the tens of thousands of foreign forces spread across Afghanistan.

Last month, an Afghan soldier killed three British troops. The soldier fled, leaving his motive unclear but the Taliban claimed he was a militant sympathiser.

Also last month, two American civilians and two Afghan soldiers were killed when an Afghan soldier who trained others at a base outside the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif started shooting during a weapons exercise.

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In April, a United States army trainer was killed by a suicide bomber who gained entry to an Afghan base after stealing an Afghan army uniform, while last November, an Afghan policeman killed five British soldiers at a checkpoint in Helmand.

Lt. Gen. Bill Caldwell, head of Nato's training in Afghanistan, said that coalition and Afghan forces kept watch for possible infiltrators at the recruitment, training and deployment stages.

"So people are staying vigilant. And we are aware of the intent by people to try to do that type of infiltration," he said.

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