KABUL: An Afghan police officer poisoned his 17 colleagues overnight and shot them to death with the help of the Taliban at a remote Afghan Local Police (ALP) outpost in the eastern Afghanistan province of Ghazni, police said on Wednesday.
“An infiltrated local policeman first drugged all 17 of his comrades, and then called the Taliban and they together shot them all,” said Muhammad Hassan, the chief police detective for Ghazni.
Seven of the dead were new recruits still undergoing training, officials said.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message.
The rapidly growing ALP program is an American-designed initiative designed to recruit local men as security officers for their area.
DND