Noorullah Shirzada/Getty Images(JALALABAD, Afghanistan) — Two U.S. soldiers were killed and two others wounded in an attack by an Afghan soldier, a spokesperson for an Afghan governor said.
“An Afghan army soldier opened fire and killed two American soldiers and injured two others,” Attaullah Khogyani, spokesperson for the governor of Nangarhar province, said. “The Afghan army soldier was killed in return fire.”
The Taliban claimed responsibility in a statement by Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid, who said the attack was committed by one of the group’s fighters who had joined the Afghan army.
The attack occurred in the Achin district of Nangarhar province.
A spokesman for U.S. Forces Afghanistan, Lt. Damien Horvath, said, “We are aware of an incident in Eastern Afghanistan. We will release more information when appropriate.”
Insider, or so-called “green-on-blue,” attacks have been an ongoing threat to U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.
In March, three U.S. soldiers were injured in Helmand Province after being fired upon by an Afghan soldier.
The motivations for such attacks are sometimes unclear, with some resulting from personal conflicts, while others may be due to the Taliban’s infiltrating the Afghan military.
The number of insider attacks spiked in 2012 but have since become less common, a reduction attributed to new security procedures and better vetting of Afghan security forces.
For example, the use of “guardian angels” has become standard in Afghanistan. This is when at least one U.S. service member remains on watch while Afghan and U.S. military forces are on patrol, dine together or are sleeping.
There are 8,400 American troops in Afghanistan training, advising and assisting the Afghan military in its fight against the Taliban. About 2,000 of them are involved in counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda and the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan.
Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, told Congress earlier this year that a few thousand more U.S. and NATO personnel might be needed in the country.
The Trump administration is in the middle of a review of the overall U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. American officials said the military has proposed sending an additional 2,000 to 4,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, but the number may ultimately depend upon how many additional troops are committed by NATO partners.
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