Afghan cop drugs, kills 17 colleagues
2013-02-27 17:50
Kabul - An Afghan police officer drugged 17 colleagues
and shot them dead on Wednesday with the aid of the Taliban, police said, the
latest in a series of so-called "insider", or green-on-blue, attacks
involving Afghan security forces and the Taliban.
The attacks have undermined trust between coalition and
Afghan forces that are under mounting pressure to contain the Taliban
insurgency before most Nato combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
The killings, the worst in a string of similar attacks in
recent months, occurred at a remote Afghan Local Police (ALP) outpost in the
eastern province of Ghazni.
"An infiltrated local policeman first drugged all 17
of his comrades, and then called the Taliban and they together shot them
all," the chief police detective for Ghazni, Mohammad Hassan, told
Reuters.
Seven of the dead were new recruits still undergoing
training, officials said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a
text message by spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.
The rapidly growing ALP programme is an American-designed
initiative designed to recruit local men as security officers for their area.
The force has been beset by allegations of abuse and
widespread corruption.
In September, Afghanistan suspended the training of new
ALP recruits following a spate of insider attacks on foreign soldiers.
