Insider attack kills six police in southern Afghanistan

Afghan policemen stand at a gate near the site of a series of explosions that targeted a funeral of a politician's son killed during an anti-government protest a day earlier, in Kabul, June 3, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

At least six police officers have been killed when their two rogue colleagues opened fire and shot them dead in southern Afghanistan.

Local Afghan authorities said that the deadly shooting took place in Kandahar province on Sunday

Some provincial officials confirmed that the assault also wounded the Kandahar City district police chief.

Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, in a statement claimed responsibility for the fatal assault, saying that both attackers were their men who joined the police rank just to carry out such an attack and both devoted their lives for their aim.

The so-called insider attacks, when Afghan soldiers and police turn their guns on their colleagues or on US-led troops, have created mistrust between local forces and their US-led partners during more than 16 years of war.

In late April, the Taliban militant group announced the start of their "spring offensive", saying they would target foreign forces in the country, heralding a fresh round of fighting in the drawn-out conflict

The Taliban warned of further “complex attacks and inside attacks" by soldiers or police turning against their peers.

Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers patrol the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province on May 23, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Militants have currently launched a series of deadly attacks across the war-ravaged country.

Afghanistan has been gripped by insecurity since the United States and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror in 2001. Many parts of the country remain plagued by militancy despite the presence of foreign troops.

During the past 16 years, the Taliban militants have been conducting terrorist attacks across the country, killing and displacing civilians.

In addition, the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, which is mainly active in Syria and Iraq, has recently managed to take recruits from Afghan Taliban defectors.