Afghan soldier kills US marine

Attack brings to 19 the number of Nato troops in Afghanistan killed by the country's own forces this year

Associated Press in Kabul / guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 May 2012 01.25 EDT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/07/afghan-soldier-kills-us-marine

An Afghan soldier has shot dead a US marine and wounded another before being killed by return fire. It is the latest in a series of attacks against foreigners by government forces working with coalition troops.

The soldier started shooting at international troops in Tarekh Naver in the Marjah district, a former Taliban stronghold that was the site of a major offensive by coalition forces in 2010, said a spokesman for the governor of Helmand province.

A senior US defence official in Washington said the victim was a US marine in Helmand province and one other Marine was wounded in the attack on Sunday.

So far this year there have been 19 attacks killing 12 coalition soldiers, compared with 21 last year that killed 35, according to Nato figures.

Nato is gearing up to hand over security to local forces ahead of a 2014 deadline for the withdrawal of combat troops.

In another sign of deteriorating security, the US is considering abandoning plans for a consulate in the country's north because the building chosen was deemed too dangerous to occupy. The US spent $80m on the project despite security deficiencies in the former hotel, according to a copy of a document drafted by the US embassy in Kabul.

Persistent violence has threatened to undermine President Barack Obama's effort to show progress in stabilising Afghanistan at a Nat summit later this month in Chicago. Obama travelled to Afghanistan on 1 May to sign a long-term strategic partnership governing the relationship between the two countries through 2024.

The shooting marks the second recent killing of a US marine in Helmand by an Afghan soldier. Lance Corporal Edward Dycus was shot in the head by an Afghan soldier in Helmand's Marja district while on guard duty on 31 January and died the next day.

Also on Sunday a Nato soldier was killed by a bomb in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance said, raising to 139 the number of foreign troops deaths so far this year.