Nato troops shot dead by Afghan officer

It was the seventh incident so far this year in which members of the Afghan security forces, or insurgents impersonating them, have killed coalition soldiers or members of the Afghan security forces.

Nato did not disclose the nationalities of the troops killed pending notification of their families.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attack, but Defence Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the gunman had been involved in a row.

The killer was Ahmad Gul, a 50-year-old pilot from Tarakhail district of Kabul province.

“An argument happened between him and the foreigners and we have to investigate that,” said Gen. Azimi

The Taliban claimed that the gunman was impersonating an army officer and that others at the facility helped him gain access .

Taliban insurgents have stepped up their attacks on government and military installations across Afghanistan.

On April 18, an insurgent managed to sneak past security at the heavily fortified Afghan Defence Ministry compound in the capital and killed two Afghan soldiers and an officer.

Two days before that, an Afghan soldier walked into a meeting of Nato trainers and Afghan troops at a base in Laghman province eastern Afghanistan, and detonated a vest of explosives hidden underneath his uniform. The blast killed six Nato troops, four Afghan soldiers and an interpreter.

And on April, 15, a suicide bomber dressed as a policeman blew himself up inside the Kandahar police headquarters complex, killing the top law enforcement officer in the southern province.

The coalition has recorded 20 incidents since March 2009 where a member of the Afghan security forces or someone wearing a uniform used by them attacked coalition forces, killing a total of 36.