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Afghan Soldier Kills 3 Australian Service Members, NATO Says 5 Soldiers’ Deaths in Afghanistan Mark Australia’s Worst Toll Yet
(about 3 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan soldier turned his gun on coalition service members in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing three Australian service personnel, NATO said Thursday. The attack took to 45 the total number of coalition troops killed by their Afghan counterparts so far this year. KABUL, Afghanistan — Five Australian troops have been killed in Afghanistan within hours of each other — three of them at the hands of a turncoat Afghan soldier — making it the single worst period in a decade of fighting here for one of the United States’ staunchest allies. Until now, Australia had suffered only one military fatality in Afghanistan in 2012.
Fifteen members of the U.S.-led coalition have been killed in these so-called insider attacks this month alone, 12 of them American. Two Australian soldiers died in a helicopter crash Thursday morning in southern Afghanistan that also injured an unspecified number of troops, said Lt. Col. Hagen Messer, a spokesman for the American-led military coalition in Kabul. He said he did not know why the helicopter had crashed.
The attack happened at a fuel depot in Uruzgan Province in the south of the country late Wednesday evening, said Lt. Col. Hagen Messer, a NATO spokesman in Kabul. The attacker, a member of the Afghan National Army, fled the base. A spokesman for the Helmand provincial governor’s office, Dawood Ahmadi, said a coalition helicopter had crashed in the Garmsir district of Helmand, likely because of a mechanical problem, but did not have other details.
NATO did not know the reason for the shooting, although it said it was investigating. It blames about one in 10 of the recent wave of attacks on Taliban infiltrators posing as Afghan soldiers or police officers. A larger proportion, it believes, is tied in some way to broader Taliban influence such as coercion. Three other Australian troops were killed Wednesday night when an Afghan soldier turned his gun on them in Uruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan, the latest in a rash of so-called “insider” attacks on coalition forces that have left 45 dead at the hands of their Afghan counterparts or other Afghans working closely with them.
But most of the shootings are seen as stemming from cultural or personal disputes. Last week, President Hamid Karzai’s office said the attacks were mostly the work of spies from foreign countries. The attack happened at a fuel depot when a member of the Afghan National Army shot the Australians and then fled the base, Colonel Messer said. NATO did not know the reason for the shooting, although it said it was investigating.
The surge in the insider attacks, also called green-on-blue attacks, has increased tensions between NATO and the Afghan security forces at a crucial time in the training mission. NATO security forces are working closely with the Afghan Army and the police as they prepare to withdraw from the country in 2014, but the killings complicate the cooperation. With 1,550 troops in Afghanistan — most of them in Uruzgan — Australia’s is the largest non-NATO military presence in the American-led coalition fighting here.
The only other Australian military fatality in Afghanistan this year was in July. Last year, Australia saw 11 of its troops killed here, according to data from Icasualties.org, which tracks military fatalities.
The five new deaths stunned Australia. Prime Minister Julia Gillard called it “the most awful news” for the country.
“This is a very big toll,” Ms. Gillard said during a visit to the Cook Islands, where she said she would cut her trip short to return to Canberra, the Australian capital. “This is our single worst day in Afghanistan.”
She said insider attacks like the one that killed three of her countrymen were “corrosive of trust” and were difficult for Australian troops to deal with.
Earlier this year, Ms. Gillard announced that Australia would withdraw its troops by the end of 2013 — one year ahead of schedule — citing what she said were security improvements in Afghanistan while also acknowledging the unpopularity of the war.
On Thursday, she vowed the five deaths would not alter that plan. “Our strategy is well-defined, our strategy is constant, and we cannot allow even the most grievous of losses to change our strategy,” she said. “We went there for a purpose and we will see that purpose through.”
Neither NATO nor Afghan officials knew why the Afghan soldier had decided to turn his weapon on the Australian troops.
“We don’t have any idea if he was an infiltrator, or if there was another reason for the shooting,” said Gen. Abdul Hamid Wardak, commander of the Afghan 205th Corps in Kandahar. He said the attack was carried out by a soldier named Hikmatullah from Ghazni Province who joined the Afghan National Army five months ago.
According to General Wardak, Hikmatullah was on duty at Camp Wahab in the Chora district of Uruzgan when a patrol of Australian soldiers came to the camp late Wednesday night. Then Hikmatullah “opened fire on them, and as a result three Australian soldiers were killed and one was wounded.” He said Hikmatullah dropped his weapon and ran from the base.
With the latest deaths, 15 members of the U.S.-led coalition have been killed in insider attacks, also called “green-on-blue” attacks, this month alone, 12 of them American.
NATO officials blame about one in 10 of the recent wave of insider attacks on Taliban infiltrators posing as Afghan soldiers or police officers. A somewhat larger proportion, officials believe, is tied in some way to broader Taliban influence, such as coercion.
But most of the shootings are seen as stemming from cultural or personal disputes. Last week, President Hamid Karzai’s office said the attacks were mostly the work of spies from neighboring and other foreign countries, an assertion that Western officials privately described as dubious, at least as it related to attacks by Afghan forces on coalition troops.
Infiltration is thought to be more of a problem in so-called “green-on-green” attacks, in which Afghan soldiers or police have killed more than 50 of their comrades this year.
The surge in insider attacks on coalition forces has increased tensions between NATO and the Afghan security forces at a crucial time in the training mission. NATO security forces are working closely with the Afghan Army and the police as Western troops prepare to withdraw from the country in 2014, but the killings complicate the cooperation.

Matt Siegel reported from Sydney, Australia. Graham Bowley contributed reporting from Kabul, and Taimoor Shah from Kandahar, Afghanistan.