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Subscribe to RSSKABUL, Afghanistan -- A man in an Afghan police uniform shot and killed a U.S. service member on Sunday, a U.S. Defense Department official said, raising the death toll to 10 in such attacks in the space of just two weeks.
The surge in violence by Afghan allies against their international partners has raised doubts about the ability of the two forces to work together at a key transition time. Afghan forces are expected to take over security for the country by the end of 2014, when the majority of international combat forces are scheduled to leave.
On the other side, a coalition airstrike killed dozens of Taliban militants, including one of their leaders, officials said.
The U.S. defense official in Washington discussed the matter on condition of anyonymity because the official notification process had not been completed.
On Saturday Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called Afghan President Hamid Karzai to encourage him to work with U.S. commanders to ensure more rigorous vetting of Afghan recruits.
NBC's Atia Abawai explains what's behind the worsening attacks on U.S. military personnel by Afghan security and military to NBC's Andrea Mitchell.
Panetta also urged Karzai during the telephone call to work with NATO to boost counterintelligence efforts and speak more to village elders who have ties to the army and police, the Pentagon said in a statement.
"They expressed shared concern over this issue and agreed that American and Afghan officials should work even more closely together to minimize the potential" for future attacks, it added.
Few details were immediately available about Sunday's killing of a coalition member in southern Afghanistan. NATO said only that they and Afghan authorities were investigating. Afghan officials could not be reached for comment.
What's leading Afghan troops to turn on coalition forces?
The Taliban have been actively recruiting members of the Afghan security forces, saying in a statement last week that they considered these turncoat attacks a major part of their strategy against international forces.
Once an anomaly, these attacks have been climbing in recent months. There have been 30 such attacks so far this year, up from 11 in 2011.
US forces in Afghanistan ordered to keep weapons loaded at all times
On Friday it was disclosed that U.S. troops have been ordered to carry loaded weapons at all times in Afghanistan, even when they are on their bases. The order was a precaution against such insider attacks.
Ramadan attacks
The monthlong Ramadan fasting period that ended Sunday has been particularly violent. The Eid al-Fitr holiday on Sunday continued the trend.
Insurgents killed two pairs of brothers with links to the government as well as three NATO service members in three separate attacks.
In the first attack, a bomb hidden in a cemetery in the southern province of Helmand killed a police chief and his brother who were visiting a family grave for the holiday.
Seven of the men's family members were wounded in the early-morning blast in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, said the Helmand deputy police chief, Ghulam Rabbani.
No one claimed responsibility, but the attack was consistent with the Taliban's strategy to target authorities and others who align themselves with the government or international forces.
The two men were brothers of a lawmaker for Helmand province, Abdulwadood Popal, who was not at the cemetery at the time of the blast. The family was visiting the grave after attending a morning prayer service for the holiday, which ends the month-long Ramadan fasting period.
Hoshang Hashimi / AP
More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.
Later in the western Farah province, gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on the car of an intelligence service official as he was driving home from a family visit, killing him and his brother, who worked for the customs service.
Another relative was wounded, provincial deputy police chief Ghulam Ghows Malyar said.
In central Afghanistan, three NATO service members were killed when a vehicle struck a roadside bomb, officials said. Bamiyan Gov. Habiba Sarabi said the blast went off in Kohmard district while the troops were out on patrol.
NATO forces confirmed that three coalition service members were killed in a bombing, but did not provide their nationalities or other details.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.
Including Sunday's deaths, at least 41 international troops have been killed so far this month in Afghanistan.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
@ Bill Collins...congratulations! You have posted the dumbest comment thus far, kudos. "Obama's a muslim."
Then how do you explain Obama's silence to the death of our troops, the bowing before the Saudi King, the help we gave to the Libyans and Egyptians that brought in governments supporting Sharia law? How about the silence to the jailing of a Christian pastor and his imminent execution in Iran, or the arrest of an 11 year old Christian girl with down syndrome? How about that support for a Muslim shrine next to the World Trade Center in NYC? Or how about the covering up a Christian Cross in a Missouri church after the tornados? Or even how do you reconcile the fact that all Christian soldiers must cover their religious medallions? But it is ok to give Islamic soldiers a prayer mat and a room to pray at an airport? Good grief man, can't you see the forest for all of the trees?
People are dying for no good reason Nato, US and the Afgan Public.
Obama and the Romney do not want to appear soft and will not say lets pull out of Afganistan and Packistan.
These people are dying for Votes people plain a$$ votes they have over the last year become POLYTOYS young Men and Women dying so Obama and Romney look tough.
Mitt Romney Doesn't Have Enough Information To 'Take A Stand' On Afghanistan
President Obama vowed that Afghanistan "will not stand alone"
Just a bunch of Poly CYA so our people have to die to cover their A$$ in the elections.
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Lest we forget, it was not long ago that our soldiers were ordered to disarm themselves before listening to a speech given by his honor Panetta because to be armed might offend the Afghans !!
Lest we forget that recently Hillary was so proud of herself that Afghanistan was named as a rare " non NATO ally " !!
Ain't PCism great ?
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Why do you have to start the article with, "A man in a police uniform"? Tell it like it is HE IS AN AFGAN POLICE OFFICER trained, paid and support by the stupid US. Where is the Afgan outrage? Where is the apology from Cash Money Karzai? It is obvious to a new born baby that we are not winning anything in Afganistan and the war should have ended years ago not 2014.
We are there for one reason, that is to protect their poppy fields and work deals with drug dealers. The US will probably be legalizing Heroin in the next decade or so and our Phamaceutical companies will need a steady supply of Opium, watch and see.
There are words in any language to describe the contempt I feel for our President for keeping us in that cesspool, and for our military commanders for trusting any Afghanistan personnel enough to allow them to hold a gun with live ammunition next to our soldiers.
It's time to go, with "Run Through The Jungle" playing loudly in the background. (Yes, I know it's sand, not jungle, but if ever a place and people brings to mind Vietnam, this one does.)
Correction: There are "no" words in any language...
...The Afghan police are about as trustworthy as Obama. ...Time to bring all our troops home and put them out on border patrol where they can really help America.
Oops how did I forget to mention the fact that we cannot close our prayers in the military in Jesus' name. But we can with Allah.