The long War is taking its toll -ostensible allies turning on each !

France to suspend Afghan troop training

Move comes shortly after alleged shooting by Afghan army soldier leaves four French troops dead and another 16 wounded. Last Modified: 20 Jan 2012 11:20 inShare9 Email Print Share Feedback

The shooting in Tagab comes as a new report shows growing animosity between NATO and Afghan forces [EPA] France is set to suspend its training programmes for Afghan troops after four of its soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan, according to both NATO and Afghan accounts, by an Afghan soldier.Sixteen more members of the French armed forces were injured in Friday's shooting, in the Tagab district of Kapisa province, north of the capital Kabul, a security official told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity. The attack took place inside the base during a training session conducted by French forces. French troops had surrounded their base in Kapisa and were not allowing any Afghan soldiers to approach, a security source told AFP. The shooter has been arrested by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the source said. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, said it is "unacceptable" that Afghan troops fire at French soldiers. With eight other French soldiers injured, including  the commander at the time, who was seriously injured, the death toll from today's attack could continue to rise. The incident comes amid a week of setbacks for NATO forces in the Central Asian nation. There has been a number of incidents of Afghan soldiers turning their weapons on members of the 130,000-strong foreign force fighting an uprising by the Taliban. Last month, two soldiers with the French Foreign Legion serving in Afghanistan were shot dead by a man wearing an Afghan army uniform during a mission in Kapisa, site of the main French base in Afghanistan. and... Speaking today in an interview with Reuters, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar warned the US against pushing for any new offensives in Pakistan’s tribal areas. Relations between the two nations remain “on hold” in the wake of the November 26 US attack on a pair of Pakistani military bases, she said. Khar expressed hope that the upcoming “re-evaluation” of the US-Pakistani relationship would leave the nations with a more effective partnership, and predicted a formal recommendation would come in front of parliament within the next few days. America’s relationship with Pakistan has been worsening throughout the past several months, taking a major hit early last year with the arrest of US “consulate employee” Raymond Davis on murder charges. Davis later turned out to be a top CIA official deployed in the nation without the Pakistani government’s knowledge. In other comments, Khar also warned Secretary of State Hillary Clinton against any future US air raids into the nation. She cautioned that Pakistan still reserves the right to shoot down US warplanes violating their airspace.