Three more U.S. soldiers killed by Afghan in grim day for NATO

2012-08-11 1

A new front in the war in Afghanistan.

Three American soldiers are killed by an Afghan worker at a military base in southern Afghanistan Friday night.

It marks a grim 24 hours in Afghanistan coming just after three US forces were killed by an Afghan policeman earlier in the day.

A police chief in Helmand province says it is a new tactic by insurgents.

(SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) MOHAMMAD QASIM, POLICE CHIEF OF POLICE DISTRICT ONE IN LASHKAR GAH, HELMAND PROVINCE, SAYING:

"The enemies are trying to drive a wedge between Afghan security forces and Americans, by enrolling their personnel into police or army forces."

NATO Brigadier General Gunter Katz does not see a trend.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) BRIGADIER GENERAL, GUNTER KATZ, SPOKESMAN ISAF; SAYING:

"Let me clearly say that those incidents clearly do not reflect the overall situation in Afghanistan."

There have been 26 such attacks on foreign troops since January -- that compares with 21 attacks in all of 2011.