The incident appeared to be the latest in a string of recent attacks by “rogue” police and soldiers, underlining the pressure as NATO-led troops try to train Afghan forces rapidly to allow the handover of security responsibility to begin from mid-2011. “The incident took place during a police training course and two Spanish policemen and an interpreter of Spanish nationality lost their lives,” said Spain’s Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told Spanish radio.“The security forces responded to the attack and shot and killed the assassin,” he said.
The attack occurred during a weapons training exercise at a Spanish-run base in Qalay-e Naw, the provincial capital of northwestern Badghis province. The incident sparked angry protests outside the base. Badghis governor Dilbar Jan Arman said at least 1,000 protesters tried to storm the base, which lies near the border with Turkmenistan. Residents said thousands of protesters had set fire to one part of the base.
Mohammad Sadiq, a surgeon at a government hospital in Qalay-e Naw, said at least 18 demonstrators, many suffering bullet wounds, had been brought in for treatment.
“The condition of several of them is critical,” he said. One protester, who identified himself only as Abdullah, said the casualties among the protesters were caused when troops inside the base fired on them.
