Afghan Local Policeman Kills 2 UK Troops in Helmand

A member of the Afghan Local Police (ALP) turned his gun on British soldiers in southern Helmand province today, killing two troops and wounding four, local officials said Saturday.

The policeman, Gul Agha, was killed in return fire from another solider at the scene, Helmand deputy police chief Ismael Hotak told TOLOnews.

The shooting happened in the Gereshk district where 12 civilians from two families were killed yesterday after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

Isaf confirmed the two coalition deaths in a statement Saturday but did not release the nationality of the soldiers or the exact location of the incident, saying only it was in the south of Afghanistan.

Another local official said it happened around 2PM.

US forces suspended training of the ALP a fortnight ago after a spate of similar shootings in August killed at least 15 Nato-led soldiers. Today’s shooting brings the total killed at the hands of Afghan security forces to 47.

Training was suspended to try and implement more thorough screening of new recruits to weed out any links to the militant Taliban.

Top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan Gen. John Allen has said in recent weeks that the Nato mission will not be defined by the rising incidence of the shootings, despite the negative impact they have on troop morale and mutual trust between the security forces.