Interpreter shoots two US soldiers in Afghanistan

January 30, 2010 Two US soldiers killed in Afghanistan yesterday were shot by an Afghan interpreter in Wardek province south-west of Kabul, according to NATO. An official said the translator shot them at an eastern Afghanistan outpost before he was shot dead by other soldiers.

It is not yet clear why the interpreter started shooting; However, the attacker seemed to be a "disgruntled employee", as opposed to a militant, according to a US military official. The interpreter had supposedly argued with the soldiers over pay and treatment before opening fire. A US employee was also killed.

NATO originally only released a terse statement yesterday, stating that two soldiers and one civilian had been killed.

Elsewhere in Wardek province, four Afghan soldiers died in an airstrike by coalition forces. It is not thought that the two incidents are related. NATO called the deaths "regrettable" and is to carry out an investigation. The Afghan defence ministry is demanding punishment for the "murderers" responsible for the airstrike.