KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Officials say an Afghan police officer has shot and killed three U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan. It is the third attack on coalition forces by their Afghan counterparts in a week.

A U.S. Defense Department official confirmed Friday that the dead Americans were Marine Special Operations Forces. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the family notification process was not complete.

Thirty coalition service members have now died this year at the hands of Afghan forces or insurgents disguised in Afghan uniforms, according to an Associated Press tally — a dramatic rise from previous years.

The assaults have cast a shadow of mistrust over U.S. efforts to train Afghan soldiers and police more than 10 years after the U.S.-led invasion to topple the Taliban's regime for sheltering the al-Qaida leadership.

Associated Press
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