Afghan Insider Attack Kills at Least One US Soldier

Fourth Attack in Less Than a Month

An Afghan soldier opened fire on US troops in the Paktia capital city of Sharana today, hitting two soldiers and killing at least one of them. The Taliban claimed credit for the attack, which occurred near Operating Base Rushmore.

US and Afghan officials offered scant details on the incident, confirming only that the attacker “hadn’t been killed” in the attack, but declining to say whether he was captured or if he’d managed to escape.

It is the fourth insider attack reported in Afghanistan in less than a month, a flurry of incidents after a few months of relative calm had officials suggesting the problem of such attacks had more or less subsided.

In reality, the attacks continued apace through the summer as well, but instead of “green-on-blue” attacks they were green-on-green attacks, with Taliban infiltrators or defectors targeting other Afghan security forces in record numbers. Reduced US patrols have made them less available and consequently, less often the target.

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.