Afghan Insider Attack Soldier Escapes With Guard

General Insists Guard Was 'Trustworthy'

An embarrassing postscript to last week’s insider attack in Afghanistan has occurred today, as Afghan officials confirmed that the attacker has escaped from custody this morning, having been freed by his guard, who left with him.

The attacker was identified by officials as Lamber Khan, a five-year veteran of the Afghan military, and last week he shot up a NATO convoy, killing a Czech soldier and wounding several others.

Officials had dismissed the idea that Khan was an infiltrator, saying they believed he was “disgruntled” with the NATO occupation. Afghan military officials say that the guard who let him go was “trustworthy.”

The Taliban reported today that Khan had been in contact with them in the past, and that they had chosen to keep it quiet until he was able to escape. NATO insisted that it was “aware” of the reports, but offered no useful details.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.