☰

Global

Afghans in army uniform kill two American troops in east


    KABUL (Reuters) - Two Afghan men in army uniforms turned their weapons on American forces in east Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two U.S. troops, officials said.

    An Afghan interior ministry official said the shooting took place in Kapisa province, just north of the capital Kabul.

    The NATO-led coalition confirmed two foreign troops had been shot dead but did not identify their nationalities. A U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said both victims were Americans.

    It was the first "insider" attack this year. There were ten such incidents last year, resulting in the deaths of 15 members of the ISAF international security forces, according to a Reuters tally.

    The attacks led the NATO-led force to briefly suspend all joint activities, a cornerstone of its mission in Afghanistan.

    (Reporting by Hamid Shalizi and Jessica Donati; additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Chizu Nomiyama)