British Troops Shot By Afghan Army Gunman

The Koran burnings at a US base

Two British servicemen have been shot dead by an Afghan National Army gunman at a base in southern Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence said one was from the Royal Marines, the other from the Adjutant General's Corps (Staff & Personnel Support).

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond told the Commons that details of the incident at the British HQ in Lashkar Gar, Helmand province, were still emerging and next of kin were being informed.

"Our thoughts, as ever, are with their families, for whom this will be a deeply personal tragedy," he said.
"Details of the incident are still emerging but it appears that a member of the Afghan National Army opened fire at the entrance gate to the British headquarters in Lashkar Gar city, killing the two British service personnel.

"The assailant was killed by return fire."
The deaths bring the number of British armed forces personnel killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 407.
A joint Afghan and International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) team is investigating the incident.
Provincial police chief Abdul Nabi Elham said the gunman was a lieutenant named Afsar Gul from Jalalabad.
"We don't know the motive behind this attack and have not found a link to the Taliban. We are still investigating," he said.

There have been more than 45 attacks by Afghans on Nato colleagues in Afghanistan since 2007, more than 75% of those in the last two years.
The attack comes just two weeks after a US soldier went on a pre-dawn shooting rampage in Kandahar province, killing at least 16 people and wounding six.
Tensions have also risen since the burning of Korans at a US base in February.

This led to riots at bases and towns across the country - and to the deaths of six US soldiers, including two who were shot by an Afghan intelligence colleague.

Five British soldiers were killed by a rogue Afghan policeman in November 2009.

The gunman opened fire on the men in a military compound in Nad e-Ali before fleeing.
The Taliban later claimed responsibility.

The victims were Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, 40, from Walthamstow, London, Sergeant Matthew Telford, 37, from Grimsby, and Guardsman Jimmy Major, 18, also from Grimsby, all members of 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards, and Royal Military Policemen Corporal Steven Boote, 22, from Birkenhead, and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, 24, from Brackley, Northamptonshire.

Sky News defence and security editor, Sam Kiley, said the shootings raised new concerns about the reliability of Afghan forces and their ability to take over security

responsibilities by the end of 2014, when most Nato combat forces are due to complete their withdrawal.
"This is just the latest in killings of Nato troops by Afghans that they have either been working alongside or training," he said.

"These killings have sown a very, very deep distrust between the Isaf mentors and guides that are now working alongside the Afghans - and at a critical time too.

"This comes in Lashkar Gar which was handed over last year to the complete control of the Afghan national security forces - the first area in Helmand to be transitioned as they call it.

"This will be a central plank of the strategy that will allow the withdrawal of Nato troops in Helmand.
"They will only be able to do that safely if they can hand over to Afghan troops who can hold the line.

"These sorts of incidents, of which there seem to be an ever-increasing number, seriously jeopardises both relationships between the trainer and the trained, but also undermines the notion that the Afghan security forces, are therefore, sufficiently coherent that they will be able to hold ground when the foreign troops withdraw."