Four US soldiers were killed today in the Zabul Province when an Afghan policeman opened fire on them. Zabul police officials say the attacker was also killed in the incident, but gave no indication why he attacked in the first place.
It was the second “green-on-blue” attack of the weekend, after a Saturday attack in the Helmand Province. In that case the Afghan policeman feigned an injury and opened fire on British soldiers, killing two.
The weekend incidents bring the overall toll of “green-on-blue” attacks, which NATO is hoping to rebrand as “insider” attacks, to 51 for the year, with the vast majority of the slain US soldiers. This is by far the most such deaths since the war began in 2001.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has claimed credit for both attacks, as he always does, but former Taliban official Waheed Mujda, who is now a political analyst, speculated that the attacks were actually a result of the YouTube trailer for Innocence of Muslims, which has been causing major anti-US protests throughout the region.
