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Continue reading the main storyLife after Nato in wild east
Nato's exit strategy Watch
Three Australian soldiers have been killed by a man in an Afghan army uniform, the latest in a series of so-called "green-on-blue" attacks.
The attack took place at a base in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.
Acting Defence Minister Warren Snowdon said two other Australian soldiers were hurt in the attack, which happened late on Wednesday.
Some 45 coalition troops have died in more than 30 such attacks this year.
"The incident is currently under investigation," said an International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) statement.
Nato is training Afghan troops ahead of its pullout by the end of next year.
The Taliban has been actively recruiting members of the Afghan security forces, publicly announcing that insider attacks were a central part of their strategy against Nato forces.
'Vetting process'About 1,500 Australian soldiers are based in Uruzgan province as part of the Nato's Isaf troops.
"Three Australian solders have been killed as a result of a green-on-blue incident and two have been injured," Mr Snowdon said.
The term "green-on-blue" comes from the colour-coding systems used by the US military.
Currently, approximately 130,000 (blue) Nato troops are fighting insurgents in Afghanistan alongside 350,000 (green) Afghans.
Most of the victims of the attacks have been American.
This month the most senior US military officer, Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Afghanistan to discuss the rising number of attacks.
He said: "We have an eight-step vetting process that's been in place in earnest for about a year, but we haven't turned the corner on the trend."
However, UN figures released this month did show that civilian casualties had fallen for the first time in eight years.
Those killed or injured fell by 15% in the first half of 2012 compared with the same period last year, the figures showed.
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