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Afghan Soldier Kills 3 British Troops

VOA News
13 July 2010

An Afghan soldier is on the run after killing three British troops during a joint patrol in southern Afghanistan.

The British defense ministry said three British Gurkha soldiers from Nepal were killed in a suspected premeditated attack by an Afghan soldier using a "combination of weapons" in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province. At least four British troops were wounded.

Afghan army chief Sher Mohammad Karimi pledged to capture and prosecute the attacker.

NATO spokesman Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith said the attack was the work of a "lone individual who has betrayed his ISAF and Afghan comrades." A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed regret.

NATO and U.S. forces commander General David Petraeus issued a statement, calling for unity in the fight to bring security to Afghanistan. Petraeus said Afghan and NATO troops must ensure the trust between the forces remains solid to defeat common enemies.

In November of last year, an Afghan police officer shot and killed five British soldiers at a checkpoint in Helmand.

Also Tuesday, President Karzai's spokesman, Waheed Omar, said the Afghan leader and General Petraeus are trying to reach an agreement on the creation of tribal militias to fight Taliban militants in remote Afghan villages. Omar the two have been in talks. Afghan officials have expressed concerns that such militias would undermine the government.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says setting a timetable to withdraw troops from Afghanistan could encourage the Taliban to step up attacks on coalition forces.

In an interview published in Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper Tuesday, the NATO chief said he could not give an exact date when international forces would leave the war-torn nation and called on coalition partners to keep their soldiers there as long as necessary.

Rasmussen also warned that an early departure from Afghanistan could allow the Taliban to return to power and risk destabilizing neighboring Pakistan.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AP and Reuters.