Afghan policewoman shoots dead foreign adviser

A female Afghan police officer on Monday shot dead a foreign civilian adviser in Kabul police headquarters, officials said, in the first “insider” attack to be carried out by a woman.

It is the latest in a series of insider attacks that have seriously undermined trust between NATO forces and their Afghan allies in the fight against hardline Islamist Taliban insurgents.

The policewoman approached the American adviser as he was walking in the heavily guarded police chief's compound in a bustling area of the capital. She then drew a pistol and shot him once, a senior police official told Reuters.

The police compound is close to the Interior Ministry where in February, two American officers were shot dead at close range at a time anger gripped the country over the burning of copies of the Muslim holy book at a NATO base.

"She is now under interrogation. She is crying and saying 'what have I done'," said the official of the police officer who worked in a section of the Interior Ministry responsible for gender awareness issues.

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Seidiqqi, confirmed the incident and said an investigation was under way.

The officer was arrested by her other colleagues after the shooting, the official said.

The insider incidents, also known as green-on-blue attacks, have undermined trust between coalition and Afghan forces who are under mounting pressure to contain the Taliban insurgency before most NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014.