Four Nato soldiers killed in Afghanistan 'rogue' attack

Afghan Officials have also said that five police were missing after the checkpoint attack in southern Zabul province, they said. One was killed.

The special forces members were killed as they tried to stop an insurgent attack on a police checkpoint in Mezan, a remote area of Zabul near the border with Pakistan, according to Zabul deputy police chief Ghulam Jelani Farahiof.

They were killed by a man in an Afghan national police uniform, he said. While their nationality has not been released, it was confirimed they were not from the UK contingent.

It was only later that senior Afghan officials told the BBC that the four dead were Special Forces members.

They said one suspected policeman had died in the attack and five had gone missing since. But it was not clear whether the five were involved in the attack against Special Forces or had fled fearing they would be held responsible.

However Associated Press is reporting that an assailant was at large and it was unclear whether there had been multiple attackers.

A number of international troops were wounded in the attack, reports also said. An investigation has been launched.

If confirmed, this attack takes the number of Nato soldiers killed in insider - or so-called "green-on-blue" - attacks to 47 for this year alone, and which risk undermining the programme to train Afghan forces.

The rash of attacks prompted the US to suspend training for new recruits to the Afghan local police (ALP) earlier this month.