NATO kills insurgent behind US soldier's death

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Kabul, Feb 18 (AP) An Afghan soldier-turned-insurgent who was feted by the Taliban for killing an American soldier during an insider attack in eastern Afghanistan last year has been killed in a raid, the US-led international coalition said today. NATO identified the insurgent as Mahmood and said that he and an accomplice, identified only as Rashid, died in last Wednesday's operation in eastern Kunar province's Ghaziabad district. No other details were provided. Mahmood is thought responsible for the May 11 killing of US Army 1st Lt Alejo Thompson, who died during an insider attack on a base in Kunar. The attack also wounded two American soldiers. Mahmood, in his early 20's and who went only by one name later fled. Thompson, 30, a father of two, was from Yuma, Arizona. He was based at Fort Carson, Colorado. "Afghan and coalition forces confirmed today the death of the two Taliban insider attack facilitators, Mahmood and Rashid, during a security operation in Ghaziabad district, Kunar province, Wednesday," the coalition said in a statement. "Mahmood was responsible for the death of one American service member during the May 11, 2012, insider attack in Kunar province." It added that "Rashid was Mahmood's associate and a former Afghan National Army soldier who facilitated and assisted with insider attack planning and execution." After he fled, a man named Mahmood was highlighted in a Taliban video that showed him being welcomed as a hero while entering an insurgent camp. In the video, he was shown in his Afghan army uniform, his US-made M-16 assault rifle, and with garlands of flowers around his neck. The Taliban claimed he had defected to their side. Killings by uniformed Afghans of foreign soldiers and civilians rose dramatically last year. According to NATO, so-called insider attacks killed 61 coalition personnel in 45 incidents last year, compared to 35 killed in 21 attacks a year earlier. This tally does not include the December 24 killing of an American civilian adviser by a female member of the Afghan police because an investigation of the reportedly mentally unstable woman is continuing. In some cases, militants have donned Afghan army or police uniforms to attack foreign troops. And a number of attacks have also been carried out by members of Afghan security forces against their own comrades. Insider attacks have dropped sharply after NATO forces took steps to mitigate them, including having armed "guardian angels" looking over troops as they sleep. There has been only one insider attack so far this year, the January 7 killing of a British soldier in southern Helmand province by a man in an Afghan army uniform. (AP) SAI 02182238 NNNN