http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/13/afghan-peace-negotiator-shot-dead
Afghan peace negotiator shot dead
Arsala Rahmani, a senior member of Afghanistan's high peace council, killed by an unknown attacker in Kabul
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Arsala Rahmani, speaks during an interview in Kabul. Photograph: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters
A gunman has shot dead a top member of the Afghan peace council in Kabul, striking another blow to efforts to negotiate a political resolution to the decade-long war.
Arsala Rahmani, a former Taliban official turned Afghan peace negotiator, was in his vehicle when he was killed by an unknown attacker at an intersection in the west part of the city, according to Mohammad Zahir, head of the Kabul police department's criminal investigation division.
The Taliban denied responsibility for the killing, although they had earlier indicated that they would target peace negotiators.
Rahmani was one of about 70 influential Afghans and former Taliban appointed by President Hamid Karzai to try to reconcile with the insurgents.
The US has backed the council's efforts to pull the Taliban into political discussions with Kabul as part of its strategy for reducing violence and turning over responsibility to Afghan forces, so international combat troops can go home or move into support roles by the end of 2014.
But this effort suffered a major setback in September 2011 when former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was head of the peace council, was assassinated by a suicide bomber posing as a peace emissary from the Taliban.
The US has its own contacts with the Taliban but in March the militant organisation said they were suspending contacts with Washington over what they said was a lack of progress in releasing prisoners from US detention in Guantánamo Bay.
The last substantive discussions between US officials and Taliban representatives were in January, and both initiatives to build trust and move toward real peace talks are in limbo.
On Twitter, the US embassy in Kabul called the assassination of another peace council member "a tragedy".
Rahmani served as minister of higher education during the Taliban regime, which ruled Afghanistan for five years and sheltered al-Qaida before being driven out of power in the US-led invasion in late 2001.
He reconciled with the government established in Kabul after the Taliban's fall and subsequently served in parliament.
Rahmani was one of several former members of the Taliban who were removed from a UN blacklist in July 2011. The decision by a UN committee eliminated a travel ban and an assets freeze against Rahmani and the others – a move seen as key to promoting the peace effort.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that his group had nothing to do with Rahmani's assassination.
When they announced the start of their annual "spring offensive" earlier this month, the Taliban said that members of the peace council who they view as government collaborators would be among their primary targets.
The offensive, which comes every year as the weather warms up, normally leads to an increase in attacks as the insurgents seek to intimidate the government and retake territory lost over the winter.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/13/british-troops-dead-afghanistan-police
British troops shot dead by Afghanistan police officers
Airman and soldier attacked in Helmand while providing security for meeting with local officials
The killers wore Afghan police uniforms. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
Two British servicemen have been shot dead by members of the Afghan police force, prompting renewed fears over the possible infiltration of the country's security forces by insurgents.
The Ministry of Defence said that a Royal Air Force airman and a soldier from 1st Battalion Welsh Guards were killed on Saturday in the Lashkar Gah district of Helmand province.
They were providing security for a meeting with local officials at a patrol base. Their next of kin have been informed.
An International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) spokesman said the attack was conducted by two people wearing Afghan police uniforms. One is on the run and the other was killed when forces returned fire, he said.
Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "What appears to have happened is that an Afghan police officer opened fire on a mentoring team working with the Afghan police. One of the assailants was killed, we think, by other Afghan police officers, one escaped.
"British forces work alongside Afghan forces every day with thousands of contacts with them every day. This is a country that has an insurgency going on in it and, sadly, occasionally, these events occur.
"We don't yet know what the motive was, we don't yet know whether this was an insurgent who'd infiltrated the police or whether it was a policeman who simply had a grievance of some kind," he said.
In a comment that may spark claims he is reverting to cultural stereotypes, he added: "Remember, this is a society where people traditionally settle grievances by violence."
Fareed Ahmad, a spokesman for the Helmand provincial police, said the policemen opened fire at 3pm at a joint Afghan-coalition compound, killing two coalition troops. He said a third Afghan policemen fired at the attackers, killing one and wounding the other, who escaped.
According to Ahmad, the gunmen had been members of the Afghan national police for a year and were from Nangarhar province, in easternAfghanistan.
Jim Murphy, the shadow defence secretary, told Sky's Dermot Murnaghan that the recruitment process of Afghan recruits needs to be re-examined as Britain moves towards the withdrawal of nearly all forces in 2015. "There has been a real emergence of these horrific attacks by people dressed in friendly uniform. This tells us that we should look at the recruitment processes again.
"My concern is that in 2015, when Britain is going to be running training regimes in Afghanistan, who is going to be ensuring the security of British personnel then?" he said.
The incident appears to be the latest in a string of "green-on-blue" attacks in which members of the Afghan security forces have opened fire on international allies. There have been more than 45 attacks by local police and army on Nato troops in the past five years.
In March, Sergeant Luke Taylor of the Royal Marines, and Lance Corporal Michael Foley of the Adjutant General's Corps, were shot dead by an Afghan soldier at the entrance to the UK headquarters in Helmand province.
Five British soldiers were killed by a rogue Afghan policeman in November 2009. The gunman opened fire on the men in a militarycompound in Nad e-Ali before fleeing. The Taliban later claimed responsibility.
Such attacks have become increasingly common in recent months, particularly since the burning of copies of the Qur'an at a US base in February.
A total of 414 members of UK forces have died since operations in Afghanistan began in October 2001.
Major Ian Lawrence, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: "Sadly, it is my duty to confirm that a soldier serving with 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and an airman from the Royal Air Force have been shot and killed in the Lashkar Gah district of Helmand province.
"The thoughts and condolences of everyone serving in the Task Force are with their families and friends."
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