News / Afghanistan

Taliban claims deadly shooting attack at Kabul airport

Friday, 30 January 2015 7:59 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 30 January 2015 7:59 AM ]

Taliban militants in Afghanistan (file photo)

The Taliban militant group has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack at the Kabul airport, in which a gunman shot and killed three American security contractors and one Afghan man.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the assault on Friday and said the attacker had infiltrated the ranks of Afghan forces and wore an Afghan police uniform.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a US defense official has said that an “insider attack” was carried out at the Kabul airport on Thursday.

The official added that the victims were working for the US Defense Department, without giving further information about the attack.

Scores of US-led foreign troopers have died in the so-called green-on-blue or insider attacks, where Afghan soldiers turn their guns on foreign forces in Afghanistan, since the US invasion of the Asian country in 2001.

The term green-on-blue comes from a color coding system used by the US army to refer to Afghan and foreign forces.

The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues across the country despite the presence of thousands of US-led troops.

HN/MKA

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