News / Afghanistan

Insider attack kills six Afghan police in Uruzgan

Sunday, 22 May 2016 7:25 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 22 May 2016 7:30 AM ]

Afghan security personnel stand near the crater of a bomb attack after fighting against Taliban militants at Chahar Dara district in Kunduz Province, northern Afghanistan, April 23, 2016. (© AFP)

At least six police officers have been killed when their rogue colleagues opened fire and shot them dead at a checkpoint in Afghanistan's central province of Uruzgan.

Mohammad Hashim Akmal, local police commander in Charchino district, said the incident took place in Sakher locality of the province on Saturday, when three armed men clad in Afghan police uniforms turned their rifles on the officers as they were manning a checkpoint.

Akmal said the slain policemen had recently arrived at the area as part of reinforcements, adding that the assailants later fled the scene with weapons and munitions. They have reportedly joined the Taliban militant group.

Insider attacks are common among Afghanistan's security forces, and are often carried out by Taliban infiltrators.

On May 19, at least eight police officers were fatally shot by a comrade in Zabul’s provincial capital city of Qalat, located about 340 kilometers (211 miles) south of the Afghan capital, Kabul. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attacker carried out the assault with the help of two other men, who were apparently brought into the checkpoints as guests. The trio then escaped the scene, taking weapons and vehicles with them.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, later claimed responsibility for the May 19 attack, saying the shooters were with them.

On March 24, seven Afghan policemen were shot dead by three rogue colleagues in the Arghandab district of the southern province of Kandahar.

A month earlier, an Afghan police officer affiliated to the Taliban militant group had drugged and fatally shot at least five fellow officers in Kandahar. Seven policemen also sustained injuries in the act of violence.

The Taliban militant group recently announced the start of its annual spring offensive against Afghan security forces and US-led foreign forces across the conflict-ridden country.

The Taliban said in a statement that the campaign had begun on April 12. The militants dubbed the offensive “Operation Omari” in honor of the Taliban founder and long-time leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, who purportedly died at a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, in April 2013.

A massive Taliban attack killed over 60 people and left more than 340 others wounded in Kabul on April 19.

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