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NATO probes attack by Afghan soldier

07 November 2010 00:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. NATO forces have launched a probe into a shooting incident in which an Afghan soldier killed several US-led forces in southern Afghanistan, APA reports quoting Press TV.

A NATO spokesman said the US-led alliance was probing reports that an Afghan soldier was responsible for the killings that took place in Helmand Province.

"Rounds were fired within the FOB (Forward Operating Base) and an Afghan soldier was found to be missing the next morning," AFP quoted a NATO official as saying.

The probe comes as a Taliban spokesman said the soldier shot dead three foreign troops inside a military base in the Sangin district of Helmand Province before defecting to the militants.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Defense Ministry said that the soldier "mistakenly" fired at a US patrol, confirming that he fled after killing two American soldiers.

The ministry denied that the soldier had any contact with the Taliban.

The incident follows a series of similar attacks across war-ravaged Afghanistan.

Last month, an Afghan soldier fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a military outpost located north of Kabul.

In July, another Afghan soldier killed two US contractors in a military base in northern Afghanistan.

Just days after the July incident, three British forces were killed by yet another Afghan military officer.

In a separate incident, NATO said one of its soldiers was killed following a militant attack in southern Afghanistan without elaborating on the location of the fighting.

Meanwhile, Afghan officials in the northwestern Herat Province said two Italian soldiers were wounded in an explosion after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in a village on Friday.

The Taliban have accepted responsibility for the blast, claiming that four foreign soldiers were killed.

At least 623 US-led foreign forces have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year; making it the deadliest since the beginning of the US-led invasion nine years ago.