An Afghan soldier goes off on Gurkhas killing 3

Independent:

Patrol base 3 was a scene of devastation. The operations room, which had been hit by rocket-propelled grenades was a bloodstained and smouldering ruin. Next to it the briefing room had also burned down following the blast; a charred flag of St George, put up during the World Cup, stood blowing in the ashes.

Bullet holes shredded the brown canvas walls of the tent where the next attack, using a machine gun, had taken place. Gurkha soldiers peered in, shaking their heads and patting each other on the back. A female soldier stood silently as what evidence there was began to be collected, her head in her hands.

The treachery came in the early hours of the morning, one of the victims was still asleep in his bed. The suspected killer, a 23-year-old soldier in the Afghan army with the name of Talib Hussein. The three Gurkhas who died stood no chance. Two of them – believed to be UK nationals – died in the operations room when it came under attack by a rocket-propelled grenade. The lone assailant then opened machine gun fire into a tent where the third, a Nepalese national, was sleeping.

Yesterday's murderous assault on the three men of the Royal Gurkha Rifles regiment at the Nahr-e-Saraj district of Helmand Province sent shockwaves through the military. It was the second such attack by a trusted Afghan soldier in under a year. Five British soldiers died last November in another part of Helmand, when an Afghan soldier they were training opened fire.

The repeat incident will fuel fears that the key to the West's "exit strategy", gradually handing over security to the Afghans, will be undermined by an "enemy within". David Cameron spoke by phone to Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, about what he described as an "appalling" incident. "It needs an immediate and urgent investigation and I've discussed that with President Karzai," he said.

As in the previous incident last year, the killing of the Gurkhas was carried out by a lone attacker. The Independent has learned that despite his first name Talib, the suspected killer was from the minority Hazara community which suffered appallingly at the hands of the Taliban when they were in power.

Hussein was regarded by the British troops as so reliable that he was often frequently handpicked as an intermediary to settle any disagreements between them and Afghan forces. He was born in Ghazni province away from areas of Taliban influence and has been in the army for just over a year. Senior officials in the Afghan capital, Kabul, provided references for his security clearance. Yet, last night, in a claim that could not be reliably verified, the Taliban claimed the renegade soldier had surrendered to them after fleeing the British base and was then taken by them to "a safe place".

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You have to wonder if he was operating under the "sudden jihad" syndrome that has been attributed to many terrorist attacks. The attack does not make much sense , but if they are investigating a motive, I would look at his recent religious experiences. I am not saying that all Muslims are terrorist or potential terrorist, but in some cases their religion inspires them to do some crazy things. We should not let political correctness stop us from exploring that possibility.