Maj. Brent Taylor, the 39-year-old mayor of North Ogden, Utah, was killed on Saturday in an insider attack in Afghanistan. Taylor was a member of the Utah Army National Guard, and was training Afghan commandos.
There are conflicting reports on the incident, in which one of the trainees opened fire, killing Taylor and wounding another soldier. Initial reports said the gunman was killed as well, though subsequent reports have not confirmed that this was the case.
Taylor was a mayor since 2013, and has done multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. This most recent tour was scheduled to end in January. His death is the latest in a growing string of insider attacks in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon has been trying to respond to the rise in insider attacks by greatly restricting contact between Afghan forces and US troops. This has been a struggle, however, as much of the US mission right now is training, and it’s difficult to train the Afghan military without having contact with them.
