British soldier killed, 6 injured by uniformed Afghan

A man believed to be an Afghan soldier turned his weapon against foreign and Afghan troops in a southern province, killing one British soldier, in another apparent attack by a member of Afghanistan's military against its foreign allies, the NATO command said Tuesday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the shooting, the first insider attack of 2013, in which several British soldiers were also reported wounded.

NATO command spokesman Brig Gen Gunter Katz identified the soldier in Monday's shooting as British but the name was not released.

"Yesterday, a suspected member of Afghan National Army shot and killed a British (NATO) soldier," Katz said. He said the shooting occurred at a patrol base in Nahri Sarraj district of Helmand province and that the shooter fired at both Afghan and British troops. He said the incident is under investigation.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said in an email "an infiltrator" staged the attack and managed to escape from the scene but was then shot and killed after opening fire on a checkpoint. The Taliban have used the term in the past to refer to members who have enlisted in the military to conduct such an attack. They identified the assailant as Mohammad Qasim Faroq.

A Ministry of Defence official in Kabul said six British soldiers were also wounded.

In London, the Ministry of Defence said the soldier, who was attached to the 21 Engineer Regiment, was killed by small arms fire at Patrol Base Hazrat.

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