A gunfight between Afghan and foreign soldiers on the outskirts of the capital of Kabul killed one Afghan soldier and injured others, Reuters reported.
According to NATO officials, "insider attacks" by foreign soldiers are straining ties between NATO-led alliances and the Kabul authorities and are weakening support for the war in the West, Reuters reported.
The amount of insider-attacks has risen in recent months and have become Taliban insurgents' most effective weapon against the coalition. Eleven insider attacks were reported all of last year, but five have occurred since Sept. 21, Reuters reported.
This is the fourth such attack this month. Last year, attacks by Afghan servicemen on their NATO colleagues accounted for around 15 percent of all international troop casualties, BBC News reported. This year so far, over 100 international soldiers have been killed in such attacks.
The most recent attack was triggered by an argument between Afghan and foreign soldiers inside a military base where they opened fire, according to defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri, Reuters reported. The soldier killed was Afghan, a spokesman for the NATO-led force said. A number of others were reportedly injured.
The attacks made the coalition temporarily stop joint military operations, which were part of its mission, last year. New measures were adopted which limit interactions between the troops, Reuters reported.
"If it gets worse it'll make the coalition plan for post-2014 come apart pretty quick," an army strategist told Reuters.
Most troops are set to leave by the end of next year, but a small group may stay behind in Afghanistan to maintain peace and support police forces.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force Isaf currently has troops from 50 contributing nations most of them from the U.S. which provide military back-up when needed, BBC reported. According to Reuters, a security pact, among other issues have deterred the United States and Afghanistan to come to an agreement, and Washington is threatening to pull out its troops next year unless an agreement can be made.
