REUTERS

KABUL TWONATO soldiers were shot dead on Thursday by two Afghans, including a man believed to be a soldier, NATO said, an attack that is likely to raise further questions about the future of the country’s struggling security forces.

The killings in south Afghanistan came after two senior US officers were gunned down in the heart of Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry on Saturday by what Afghan security officials say was a police intelligence official.

That attack stunned NATO and cast doubt on its strategy of replacing large combat units with advisers as the alliance tries to wind down the war, now in its eleventh year.

NATO immediately moved to withdraw all its advisers from Afghan ministries in Kabul, followed by Britain, Germany and Canada.

The Obama administration will not swerve from plans to move into an advisory role in Afghanistan, US officials say.

But Afghan officials worry that further attacks by Afghan forces on Western troops could damage ties with NATO.

At least five NATO soldiers have been killed by Afghan security forces since the burning of the copies of the Holy Quran at a NATO base last month triggered widespread protests.

According to the US Pentagon, around 70 members of the NATO force were killed in 42 insider attacks from May 2007 through January 2012.

These incidents have become more frequent after the United States sent tens of thousands of more soldiers to Afghanistan as part of a surge to fight in Taliban strongholds.