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‘Green on Blue’: Two U.S. Special Forces Troops Killed in Afghanistan Attack

Posted on | March 11, 2013 | 6 Comments

NBC News reports from Kabul:

Two U.S. service members were killed and at least eight others were injured Monday in a possible insider attack at a special forces site in Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan officials said.
The shooting occurred at a U.S. special operations outpost in Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. The shooter, who was dressed in an Afghan military or police uniform, was shot and killed.
“We have two confirmed dead, but the toll could rise,” one U.S. official said.
A senior official in the Afghan Defense Ministry said that at least three Afghans were also killed.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message sent by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. . . .
The shooting occurred during a group meeting or briefing, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said.

The so-called “green on blue” attack came in the wake of Afghan president Hamid Karzai’s harsh criticism of U.S. policy, and after U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s visit to Afghanistan.

UPDATE: Bill Rogio of Long War Journal reports:

An Afghan policeman killed two US soldiers in an attack at a US Special Forces base in Wardak province today. The attack is the second green-on-blue, or insider attack, that has been reported in the past four days.
The International Security Assistance Force confirmed that two US soldiers from the US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A), the command which many US special  operations forces fall under, were killed by Afghan personnel.
“Two US Forces-Afghanistan service members died in eastern Afghanistan today when an individual wearing an Afghan National Security Forces uniform turned a  weapon on U.S. and Afghan forces,” the  ISAF statement said.
ISAF told The Long War Journal that the attack took place in the Jalrayz district in Wardak, and that two US soldiers were killed and several more were wounded.
The policeman opened fire on US soldiers with a machine gun that was mounted  to the back of a pickup, killing two US soldiers and wounding eight more, according to Pajhwok Afghan News. US soldiers returned fire, killing three Afghan Local Policemen, including the policeman who initiated the attack.

UPDATE: Related news by Philip Bump at Atlantic Wire:

The Department of Defense describes a private conversation between Hagel and Karzai, in which Hagel made similar assurances.

“We did discuss those comments,” the secretary said, responding to a reporter’s question about his meeting with Karzai. “I told the president it was not true that the United States was unilaterally working with the Taliban in trying to negotiate anything.”
Any negotiation with the Taliban to build peace and political consensus in Afghanistan must come from the Afghan government, Hagel said.

This morning, early reports of another source of tension between the two countries: U.S. troops opened fire on two Afghan civilians as they approached a military convoy. Both men, later identified by the AP as employees of a company that repairs police vehicles, were killed.
The official Defense statement quoted above summarizes the secretary’s trip: “Hagel’s first visit to Afghanistan as secretary has been eventful.” Indeed.


Category: Aghanistan, Military

Comments

6 Responses to “‘Green on Blue’: Two U.S. Special Forces Troops Killed in Afghanistan Attack”

  1. anoy
    March 11th, 2013 @ 11:26 am

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  2. Dandapani
    March 11th, 2013 @ 1:43 pm

    Why are we still in that God forsaken country?

  3. Dai Alanye
    March 11th, 2013 @ 2:11 pm

    More and more I think the proper strategy in Afghanistan is to back various warlords and let the central government collapse. That was, in effect, our initial strategy, and worked well. Further, it’s a more natural form of governing for such a divided Country.

    And Afghanistan is a country not a nation.

  4. Shawny Lee
    March 11th, 2013 @ 4:35 pm

    Uhhh, any one believe Hagel? We’ve been negotiating with the wrong side everywhere else. Why would we not be in Afghanistan? But more importantly, with the rules of engagement and sensitivity training, our troops have had their hands tied, unable to fight this war at dear cost in lives. That was horrific enough, but now they’re simply targets. They can no longer trust any of the Afghan partners they’ve worked along side because those people must continue to live there in fear for themselves and their families. We need our soldiers out of there…..yesterday. It can only get more dangerous for them while this administration just keeps pandering and paying Karzai. Couldn’t we have at least held up the next “nation building” payment contingent on the safe return of our people or is Obama standing down on this too?

  5. K-Bob
    March 12th, 2013 @ 1:58 am

    We have guys dealing with this crap, but meanwhile an Air Force Chaplain gets a Bronze Star for “Powerpoint above and beyond the call,” or something.

    Barack is trying his best to make sure the military becomes more dispirited than at any time since Valley Forge.

  6. motiondown
    March 13th, 2013 @ 1:12 pm

    I’m from the company of one of the soldiers that was killed and its pathetic that one of my guys had to die because of the afghani “allies” he’s forced to work with. When is the military going to wake up and realize that they aren’t our friends? Too many have been lost in these attacks and I’m scared to death of losing another friend because of this.