NATO troops killed in Afghanistan

Romania's foreign ministry said that the fatal shooting happened early Saturday while troops were training Afghan police officers at a base in southern Afghanistan.

A third soldier who was injured was being flown to Germany for treatment, the ministry said.

NATO in its initial statement did not specify the nationalities of the soldiers, nor the exact location of the shooting involving troops of its "Resolute Support" mission.

"Resolute Support members returned fire and killed the shooters," NATO said in a statement.

Residual force

The mission is part of a 13,000-strong residual force left in Afghanistan for training and counter-terrorism operations. NATO ended its combat mission - started in 2001 - late last year.

The rate of so-called "green-on-blue" attacks - when uniformed Afghans turn their guns on international troops - has dropped in recent years.

Western officials attribute such attacks to personal grudges and cultural misunderstandings, rather than plots by insurgents.

In the wake of Saturday's incident, there was no immediate claim of responsibility by Taliban insurgents, who last month began an annual spring offensive.

Romania has 631 troops serving in Afghanistan.

ipj/jm (Reuters, AP, AFP)