Afghan policeman kills 2 NATO service members

KABUL, Afghanistan - Two NATO service members were killed in southwestern Helmand province by an Afghan policeman, the coalition said Friday.

The two were mentoring an Afghan National Civil Order brigade and were shot and killed inside the police compound on Thursday as they sat down to eat lunch, NATO said in a statement. Other soldiers returned fire and the policeman was wounded and hospitalized. The names and nationalities of the service members, along with other details, were not released.

"While this is a serious incident, the actions of this individual do not reflect the overall actions of our Afghan partners," said U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. James B. Laster, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command Deputy Chief of Staff Joint Operations. "We remain committed to our partners and to our mission here."

It is the latest incident in which a member of the Afghan security services has killed members of the coalition.

On April 27, a veteran Afghan military pilot said to be distressed over his personal finances opened fire at Kabul airport after an argument Wednesday, killing eight U.S. troops and an American civilian contractor.

In an unrelated incident, NATO said one of its service members was killed Friday by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. No further details were released.

So far this month 10 NATO troops have been killed, for a total of more than 120 since the start of the year.