Afghan Soldier Kills 2,000th US Troop, 4 Others

Gen. Allen 'Mad as Hell' Over Growing Attacks

It is almost fitting, given how much the green-on-blue attacks have sent the Pentagon scrambling, that this weekend’s bloody milestone for the 11-year-long occupation should also come with an insider attack.

An Afghan soldier opened fire on a group of US and Afghan forces today, killing the 2,000th US soldier to die in Afghanistan since the war began. He also killed a civilian contractor and three Afghan soldiers.

The US has made repeated changes on the ground to try to get the situation under control, canceling training missions and ordering all recruits re-screened. They also briefly halted joint operations last week but quickly backtracked.

Now officials are just seething about it. Commander Gen. John Allen, in charge of the entire occupation, told 60 Minutes in an interview that “I’m mad as hell about them, to be honest with you,” calling such attacks “unacceptable.”

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.