Man in Army Uniform Kills 2 in Afghanistan

Taliban claims responsibility; gunman thought to be infiltrator
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 18, 2011 9:22 AM CDT
Man in Army Uniform Kills 2 in Afghanistan
Afghan security officers secure the road near the Defense Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday April 18, 2011.   (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

A man wearing an Afghan army uniform opened fire inside the Defense Ministry today, killing at least two soldiers before being gunned down himself. A Defense Ministry spokesperson first called the attacker an Afghan soldier, then backtracked; he may have been a Taliban infiltrator, the AP reports. The Taliban claimed responsibility and said the attack was meant to coincide with the French defense minister's visit to the compound.

The minister, however, was not inside during the attack. The gunman was also wearing a vest rigged with explosives, but it did not detonate. His attack marks the third deadly security breach in the country in less than a week, following Saturday's attack by a sleeper agent that killed 10 at a NATO base and Friday's suicide bombing that killed Kandahar's top law enforcement officer. (More Afghanistan stories.)

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