An Afghan police officer opened fire on four American soldiers he had invited for a meal Friday, killing three of them, Afghan officials said, in the third so-called green-on-blue assault in just four days.
The US military in Afghanistan confirmed that three US soldiers had been killed by "an individual in an Afghan uniform" in Sangin district of southern Helmand province, but gave no further details.
The deaths take the toll of those killed in green-on-blue attacks, in which Afghan forces turn their weapons against their NATO allies, to around 33 this year in some 23 such incidents, according to an AFP tally.
Two Afghan officials told AFP that the soldiers were shot dead by an Afghan police officer who had invited them for a meal at his checkpost in the restive southern province.
"Asadullah, the police checkpost commander, invited four foreign special forces soldiers to a (Ramadan) breakfast at 2:30 am in Sangin district," a senior security officer in the province said, requesting anonymity.
"He later opened fire on the special forces soldiers, killing three and wounding another, and he managed to run away."
