Shooting incidents 'the work of disgruntled soldiers'

A crime spree including two recent shooting incidents directed at international peacekeepers in the Afghan capital of Kabulk were probably the work of disgruntled Northern Alliance soldiers coming in from the outskirts of the city, a British military spokesman said today.

Two men fired at a convoy of British soldiers on Saturday evening as they made their way along a dirt path toward and observation post.

An armoured patrol of German peacekeepers was fired at on Friday.

No one was hurt in either incident.

Flight Lieutenant Tony Marshall, British spokesman for the peacekeepers, the International Security Assistance Force, said an investigation suggested that over the past seven to 10 days Northern Alliance soldiers had been going into an area in Kabul called District Six, to commit robberies and other crimes.

Gunmen killed two people in the area last week after trying to abduct a young girl.

‘‘There is some suggestion that they are Northern Alliance soldiers stationed on the outskirts of the town and that possibly the reason why they are coming in and doing these things is that they are not being paid,’’ said Flt Lt Marshall.

‘‘They are not being fed and they are not being clothed.’’

Attacks on the peacekeepers have been rare since the force was established by the United Nations Security Council late last year.

The British-led 18-nation, 4,500-member force is responsible for maintaining security in Kabul.

It was not clear if the assailants’ aim was to target the peacekeepers or if the security convoys had just happened upon the men as they were committing crimes.

Flt Lt Marshall said peacekeepers and local police would ‘‘swamp’’ the area with patrols in coming days to try to crack down on crime.

‘‘We are mounting patrols specifically to try to catch, or at least intercept, these armed individuals coming into the area,’’ he added.

The incident involving British troops happened at 9.20 on Saturday evening as a patrol of troops from the 1st Royal Anglian Regiment was driving to the gates of a Kabul observation post.

The shots came from 200 yards behind them, said Flt Lt Marshall.

The small-arms fire came from a single assailant, but that there may have been more people in the group.

The British troops immediately returned fire, shot off flares to illuminate the area, and called in reinforcements.

On Friday afternoon, an armoured patrol of German peacekeepers was fired on from a compound housing Northern Alliance militiamen in eastern Kabul, about eight miles from Saturday’s incident.

The peacekeeping force originally said about 10 shots hit a wall 30 yards from the German troops, but Flt Lt Marshall said the bullets actually hit the ground just in front of the vehicles.

There were no injuries and nobody was taken into custody.

Both cases were taken up with the Afghan interim administration, Marshall said.