Afghan border police killed in insider attack in Kandahar

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - At least five members of Afghanistan's border police force were killed in an insider attack in the southern province of Kandahar close to the frontier with Pakistan when a colleague opened fire on them before fleeing, officials said on Tuesday. "Late last night, a border policeman opened fire on his colleagues and killed five of them. He crossed the border and went to Pakistan," Sameem Khapalwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said by telephone. He said an investigation had begun into the incident, which occurred in the Wesh area of Spin Boldak district not far from Afghanistan's porous southern border with Pakistan. A border police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said seven police had been killed in the attack and the perpetrator had gone over to the Taliban. The Taliban, who launched their spring offensive on Tuesday, said separately their forces had killed seven border police in the same district and seized a quantity of weapons and other equipment. Insider attacks, by soldiers or policemen firing either on other members of the Afghan security forces or on international forces in Afghanistan, have been an increasingly common feature of the 15-year war. (Reporting by Sayed Sarwar Amani; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Paul Tait)