News / Afghanistan

Seven Afghan policemen killed in Kandahar insider attack

Thursday, 24 March 2016 9:01 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 24 March 2016 9:04 PM ]

Afghan security forces gather at the site of a Taliban attack in the Arghandab district of Kandahar Province. (AFP)

At least seven Afghan policemen have been shot dead by their comrades in the war-ravaged country’s southern province of Kandahar.

The incident took place on Thursday morning, when three members of the Afghan Local Police (ALP) apparently linked to militants opened fire on their colleagues in the Arghandab district of Kandahar in a so-called insider attack.

Following the raid, provincial governor spokesman Samim Khpolwak said an investigation committee has been dispatched to the district to probe the killings.

A former commander of the ALP was among the attackers, who managed to escape from the area after the attack, a security official said.

The Taliban militant group claimed responsibility for the assault, which happened nearly a month after four policemen were killed by the militants in a similar attack on the main highway connecting Kandahar to the neighboring province of Uruzgan.

Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity more than 14 years after the United States and its allies attacked the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues across the country.

The US-led combat mission in Afghanistan ended on December 31, 2014. However, thousands of foreign forces, mainly from the US, have remained in the country in what Washington calls a support mission.

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