An Afghan soldier was responsible for the killing of two American troops a day earlier, an official told AFP Tuesday, in what appears to be the latest example of an insider attack.

The US military on Monday said two of its troops had been killed in action in Afghanistan, but did not provide any additional details, pending notification of next of kin.

Mohammad Qasam, a deputy police chief in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, said the attack took place at an Afghan army base during a visit by US forces.

"Initial information was two US forces have been killed and one more wounded," Qasam said.

In a statement to AFP, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said an Afghan soldier, not an infiltrator, had killed the two.

"A patriotic Afghan soldier opened fire on them and killed them" in the attack in Kandahar, Mujahid said.

Bahir Ahmadi, the Kandahar governor's spokesman, also said the incident occurred at an Afghan army base.

On July 17, an Afghan army soldier shot and killed an influential Afghan army colonel while he was conducting a security assessment in Ghazni province.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for that killing.

Insider attacks, sometimes referred to as "green on green," are a constant threat in Afghanistan for international and Afghan forces alike. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan — Two American service members were shot dead and a third wounded Monday in a rare “insider” attack when an Afghan soldier opened fire on a group of American forces at a military base in a conflict-torn region of southern Kandahar province, Afghan defense and police officials said Tuesday.

U.S. military officials here confirmed that two American troops had been killed but did not provide any details or identify the victims, saying they needed to wait until their families were notified. A statement from the U.S. Resolute Support mission here said only that two service members had died.

According to Afghan officials, the shooter was wounded in return fire and taken into Afghan military custody. It was the first known incident, also known as a “green on blue” attack, since November, when Brent Taylor, a major in the Utah National Guard and the mayor of a town in Utah, was killed by an Afghan soldier in Kabul.

A spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, Fawad Aman, confirmed that the attack had occurred on an army base in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar. “The soldier who fired on them has been wounded in a subsequent firing,” he said in a brief telephone interview early Tuesday.

A police official in Shah Wali Kot also confirmed that the incident had taken place, according to a BBC News report. Other media outlets reported that American military officials in the U.S. had confirmed the basic facts, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

According to one media report, members of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Brigade Combat team, 82nd Airborne Division, posted a Facebook tribute to their slain comrades but did not identify them.

“It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of the loss of two Paratroopers from the Brigade during combat operations,” the Facebook post read.

No information was immediately available about the shooter except that he was an Afghan army soldier. In past “green on blue” incidents, the attackers have included both bona fide Afghan troops who were angry, disgruntled or influenced by Taliban propaganda, and insurgent infiltrators who enlisted to attack and sabotage foreign forces.

Insider attacks have been a problem for American forces in Afghanistan over the past decade, peaking in 2012 with several high-profile incidents. But they declined significantly after U.S. military officials began placing “guardian angel” forces in the battlefield, Afghan security officials improved vetting of recruits, and a major U.S. troop drawdown began in 2014.

A total of 2,400 U.S. troops have been killed in the 18-year conflict.

In August 2014, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Harold Greene was shot dead while visiting the main Afghan military academy in Kabul. He was the highest-ranking U.S. military officer to be killed in the Afghan war. A uniformed Afghan soldier opened fire on Greene and a group of visiting U.S. and European military officials, wounding 11 people. His motive was not known, but the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

In October, 2018, an attacker in an Afghan army uniform opened fire on a group of Afghan and U.S. military officials who were meeting in Kandahar city, killing a senior Afghan general and two other Afghan officials. The senior U.S. military commander, Gen. Austin Scott Miller, was there at the time but was unharmed.

The United States currently has about 14,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan in a mission to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces in their fight against Taliban insurgents. They also provide combat air support for Afghan forces in the battlefield.

President Trump has said he wants to reduce their numbers significantly, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week that Trump had directed him to start withdrawing the rest of the troops before the 2020 U.S. election.

The Taliban insurgents have intensified their attacks in recent months, as peace negotiations with U.S. officials have continued in Qatar. The country is especially jittery with the presidential election campaign beginning this week amid fears of more insurgent violence against candidates and voters.

On Sunday, President Ashraf Ghani’s top running mate, former national intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh, narrowing escaped being killed when attackers besieged his political office in Kabul. The attack, which began with a massive suicide bomb in a vehicle, turned into a six-hour gun battle with heavily armed attackers who killed 20 people and injured 50 more.
• Trump wants forces reduced in Afghanistan by next U.S. election – Pompeo
• Two U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan
• Trump says he could end the war in Afghanistan but ‘I just don’t want to kill 10 million people’ </s> According to Afghan officials, the shooter was wounded in return fire and taken into Afghan military custody. It was the first known incident, also known as a ‘‘green on blue’’ attack, since November, when Brent Taylor, a major in the Utah National Guard and the mayor of a town in Utah, was killed by an Afghan soldier in Kabul.

US military officials here confirmed that two American troops had been killed but did not provide any details or identify the victims, saying they needed to wait until their families were notified. A statement from the US Resolute Support mission here said only that two service members had died.

KABUL — Two American service members were shot dead and a third wounded Monday in a rare ‘‘insider’’ attack when an Afghan soldier opened fire on a group of American forces at a military base in a conflict-torn region of southern Kandahar province, Afghan defense and police officials said Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, Fawad Aman, confirmed that the attack had occurred on an army base in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar. ‘‘The soldier who fired on them has been wounded in a subsequent firing,’’ he said in a brief telephone interview early Tuesday. A police official in Shah Wali Kot also confirmed the incident had taken place, according to the BBC. Other media outlets reported that American military officials in the United States had confirmed the basic facts, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

According to one media report, members of the US Army’s 3rd Brigade Combat team, 82nd Airborne Division, posted a Facebook tribute to their slain comrades but did not identify them.

No information was immediately available about the shooter except that he was an Afghan army soldier. In past ‘‘green on blue’’ incidents, the attackers have included both bona fide Afghan troops who were angry, disgruntled or influenced by Taliban propaganda, and insurgent infiltrators who enlisted to attack and sabotage foreign forces.

Insider attacks have been a problem for American forces in Afghanistan over the past decade, peaking in 2012 with several high-profile incidents. But they declined significantly after US military officials began placing ‘‘guardian angel’’ forces in the battlefield, Afghan security officials improved vetting of recruits, and a major US troop drawdown began in 2014. A total of 2,400 US troops have been killed in the 18-year conflict.

Meanwhile, the UN mission said in a report released Tuesday that more civilians were killed by Afghan and international coalition forces in Afghanistan in the first half of this year than by the Taliban and other militants.

The report apparently refers to civilians killed during Afghan and US military operations against insurgents, such as airstrikes and night raids on militant hideouts. Insurgents often hide among civilians.

The UN report said 403 civilians were killed by Afghan forces in the first six months of the year and another 314 by international forces, a total of 717. That’s compared to 531 killed by the Taliban, an Islamic State affiliate, and other militants during the same period.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. </s> Officials say five attackers were also killed after they stormed a police building in the eastern city of Gardez.

At least five police officers have been killed after the Taliban stormed a provincial police headquarters building in eastern Afghanistan, according to the interior ministry.

Sardar Wali Tabasim, spokesman for the Paktia provincial police chief, said another nine officers and nine civilians were wounded in the attack in Gardez city.

Tabasim added that all five of the attackers were killed at the compound, which also houses the regional command for Afghanistan's eastern provinces.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the group was responsible for the attack.

Al Jazeera's Rob McBride, reporting from Kabul, said the attack hit a "big target".

"This is a big police headquarters. It is a big target and the attack seems to have followed a fairly familiar pattern," he said.

"It seems there was a car bomb at the main gate, which opened a breach into the complex. Four or five attackers managed to then get inside and conduct this attack."

Since the beginning of their spring offensive in late April, Taliban fighters have carried out a number of deadly attacks on the positions of the Afghan army and police.

Foreign forces assisting the Afghans have also been targeted.

Seven US soldiers were wounded on Saturday in an insider attack at a military base by an Afghan soldier described as a "patriot" by the Taliban.

In May, at least 15 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban fighters raided a military base in Kandahar province. </s> MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) - At least one Afghan was killed and seven American soldiers were wounded in an “insider attack” at a base in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, a U.S. military official said.

A spokesman for the U.S. military command in Kabul said earlier comments by an Afghan official that Americans had been killed were incorrect.

But he confirmed that seven soldiers had been evacuated after being wounded in the incident at Camp Shaheen, the headquarters of the Afghan army’s 209th Corps in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

At least one Afghan soldier was killed and another wounded, the U.S. official said. He could not immediately say if the suspected shooter was among the dead or wounded.

Abdul Qahar Araam, spokesman for the Afghan army’s 209th Corps, announced earlier that an Afghan soldier had shot and killed four U.S. soldiers inside the base.

In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said an Afghan commando loyal to the militant group had opened fire on foreign “invaders”, killing four and wounding four others.

The German military heads the multinational advising mission based in Mazar-i-Sharif. A spokeswoman for the German forces at the joint missions command in Potsdam said: “According to what we know right now, no Germans were affected.”

Three U.S. soldiers were killed and a fourth wounded on June 11 when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them at a base in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.

In April, scores of Afghan soldiers were killed when militants breached security at Camp Shaheen, detonating explosives and shooting hundreds at a mosque and dining hall on the base. The attackers were disguised in Afghan army uniforms.

Coalition countries, led by the United States, are considering sending thousands more troops to Afghanistan to help advise and assist Afghan forces struggling against Taliban and Islamic State militants.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday he would present options on Afghanistan to President Donald Trump “very soon”. </s> KANDAHAR - Taliban fighters killed 30 soldiers in an attack on an army base in the southern province of Kandahar, an army spokesman said on Wednesday, as heavy fighting raged across the country.

Sediq Esa, spokesman for the 205th Corps in Kandahar, said the Taliban attacked an outpost in Khakriz district, to the north of Kandahar city, overnight, seizing the outpost and capturing weapons and vehicles.

"As a result of the fighting, 30 army personnel have been killed and others wounded," he said.

However the 205th Corps commander, Gen Imam Nazar, disputed the death toll and said reinforcements had arrived to beat back the insurgents.

The attack came after days of fierce fighting across Afghanistan and underlined the steadily deteriorating security in much of the country, which has also seen a string of high profile attacks in cities including the capital Kabul.

While the fighting has intensified, the United States, which is expected to send around another 4,000 troops to Afghanistan to bolster its existing training mission, is still to announce its new strategy for the region.

The Taliban, fighting to restore Islamic rule to Afghanistan 16 years after being driven from power by a US-led campaign, controls or contests at least 40 percent of the country, inflicting what US advisers say are unsustainable casualties on Afghan security forces. In the first 10 months of last year alone, some 6,785 soldiers and police were killed.

On Wednesday, the Taliban's main spokesman said the insurgents were close to taking Waygal district in the eastern province of Nuristan, a day after they took Jani Kheil district in Paktika province, further to the south.

Over the past week, the insurgents have also taken districts in Ghor province in the west and Faryab in the north, although the defense ministry said government forces had retaken Kohistan district in Faryab.

Kunduz, the northern city which the Taliban captured briefly in 2015 and managed to enter in 2016, has also been under heavy pressure.

US advisers say that Afghan security forces, fighting largely alone since a NATO-led coalition ended its main combat mission in 2014, have made progress but still rely too much on vulnerable checkpoints exposed to Taliban attack.

AFP adds: The Afghan air force said it carried out strikes backing up soldiers on the ground during the hours-long attack on the base, which began late Tuesday and ended in the early hours of Wednesday.

At least 13 soldiers were also wounded in the attack, MOD spokesman General Dawlat Waziri said. The Afghan forces "bravely resisted", he added, killing more than 80 insurgents.

The camp was located in the remote Karzali area of Khakrez district, near the border with restive Helmand, where the Taliban hold vast swathes of territory.

"We conducted multiple airstrikes killing dozens of them. Our helicopters transported wounded soldiers to hospitals in Kandahar," said General Raziq Shirzai, the provincial air force commander.

One senior army source said up to 12 soldiers are still missing following the assault, which he described as a "very heavy attack". The insurgents stole guns and vehicles as they retreated, he said.

Residents described hearing the airstrikes, and said the attack was launched by a 30-strong convoy carrying "hundreds" of Taliban who assaulted the base from multiple directions.

The insurgents claimed the attack via their Twitter account.

Afghan security forces - beset by a high death toll, desertions and non-existent "ghost soldiers" on the payroll - have been struggling to beat back the insurgents since US-led NATO troops ended their combat mission in December 2014. Casualties among Afghan security forces soared by 35 percent in 2016, with 6,800 soldiers and police killed, according to US watchdog SIGAR. </s> Taliban militants have killed at least 15 Afghan soldiers during an attack on an army base in Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar.

Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said on Friday that the militants “launched a coordinated assault on an army base last night (Thursday) in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province.”

“Fifteen Afghan army soldiers were martyred and five others wounded,” he added.

However, a provincial official, who asked not to be named, put the death toll at 20.

The assault is the second of its kind in less than a week.

At least 10 Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack on the Achakzai camp of army corps 205 in the same district on May 22.

The number of Taliban attacks across Afghanistan climbs every spring, when the militants increasingly target government officials and US-led foreign forces in the country. Many ordinary people often fall victim to such attacks as well.

Over 1,000 members of Afghan security forces as well as over 700 civilians have been killed so far this year, according to Afghan authorities and figures cited by the US-based Congressional watchdog Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

The US military is considering whether to deploy 3,000 to 5,000 more military advisers to help train and assist Afghan security forces battling a 16-year militancy by the Taliban.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001. The invasion did remove the Taliban from power, but has failed to stop its terror campaign to this day.
• Gen. Nicholson Assures Kunduz Will Not Fall To Militants </s> The attack in Shah Wali Kot district came just three days after 10 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban militants stormed another base in the same area. Photo: Reuters

Kandahar: At least 15 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban fighters attacked their army base in the southern province of Kandahar, the defence ministry said on Friday, in the second such assault this week.

The attack in Shah Wali Kot district on late Thursday came just three days after 10 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban militants stormed another base in the same area.

“The Taliban launched a coordinated assault on an army base on last night (Thursday) in Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province,” ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri told AFP. “Fifteen Afghan army soldiers were martyred and five others wounded.”

A provincial official who spoke on the condition of anonymity gave a higher death toll of 20.

The attack comes as Taliban insurgents intensify their annual spring offensive and their strength is growing, more than 15 years after they were toppled from power in a US-led invasion.

It highlights a growing insurgent offensive in Kandahar, where security has relatively improved in recent years under the leadership of police chief and regional strongman General Abdul Raziq.

Raziq had lashed out at the central government in Kabul on Thursday, accusing them of a plot to destabalise his province.

“Some political figures within the National Unity Government are trying to destabilise Kandahar like (neighbouring) Helmand and Uruzgan provinces,” Raziq told a public gathering. “Whenever there is an attack in Kandahar, the central government does not help.”

The attack marks another setback for NATO-backed Afghan forces. It comes just a month after the Taliban killed at least 135 soldiers in the northern province of Balkh in the deadliest insurgent attack on an Afghan military base since 2001.

And in another deadly Taliban attack on security outposts in southern Zabul province on Sunday, local officials made desperate calls to Afghan television stations to seek attention because they were unable to contact senior authorities for help.

The battlefield losses have raised concerns about the capacity of Afghan forces, beset by unprecedented casualties and blamed for corruption, desertion and “ghost soldiers” who exist on the payroll but whose salaries are usurped by fraudulent commanders.

The Taliban launched their annual “spring offensive” in late April, heralding a surge in fighting as the US tries to craft a new Afghan strategy.

US defence secretary Jim Mattis last month warned of “another tough year” for security forces in Afghanistan.The US and several NATO allies are considering sending thousands more troops to break the stalemate against the resurgent militants. </s> WATCH: In the 17-year war, it appears to be the closest the commanding general of forces has been to being shot or seriously harmed.

WATCH: In the 17-year war, it appears to be the closest the commanding general of forces has been to being shot or seriously harmed.

Army Brigadier General Jeffrey D. Smiley was the wounded U.S. service member shot in Thursday's insider attack in Kandahar that killed two top Afghan officials in the province. The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan was also present during that attack, but was unharmed.

Brigadier General Jeffrey D. Smiley is pictured in this undated photo.

"I can confirm that General Smiley is recovering from a gunshot wound," Lt. Cmdr. Grant Neeley, a spokesman for Resolute Support, the NATO-led training command in Afghanistan, told ABC News.

Afghan security officials stand guard on a road as security has been intensified a day after a Taliban militant killed General Abdul Razzaq Dawood, an Afghan Police commander and Provincial Intelligence Chief as U.S. General Miller escaped unhurt, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Oct. 19, 2018.

"He is being treated at a Resolute Support hospital in Kandahar," said Neeley.

Smiley is the commander of the Training and Advise and Assist Command-South (TAAC-South) that has the lead in advising Afghan security forces in southern Afghanistan and had assumed command in late June. He is a general with the California National Guard, in command of the Guard’s 40th Infantry, which is one of the lead units in Kandahar.

The identity of the U.S. service member injured in the attack had not been disclosed until Sunday after it was first reported by the Washington Post.

Carried out by a gunman believed to be an Afghan bodyguard, Thursday's attack killed the top police official in Kandahar Province as well as the province's top intelligence official. The governor of Kandahar was also wounded, as was another American civilian employee and an Afghan interpreter.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Andrew Poppas, deputy chief of staff for operations for Resolute Support Mission and the deputy commanding general for operations for U.S. Forces Afghanistan, hands the Train, Advise and Assist Command-South colors to U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Smiley, incoming commander for TAAC-South, June 30, 2018 during a Transfer of Authority ceremony in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

General Austin Scott Miller, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, was present during the shooting that started after his meeting with the Afghan officials.

The gunman opened fire as they waited outside for Miller's helicopter to arrive. The gunman was shot and killed almost immediately.

Miller told reporters Friday that he believes that the Afghan officials were the targets of the attack.

Miller, like the other U.S. personnel around him, pulled out his handgun, which is standard practice in such a situation.

"When there’s a threat, we will draw our weapons,” said Col. Dave Butler, a Resolute Support spokesman. "That’s what we’re trained to do and Gen. Miller is no exception."

What followed was a combination of U.S. and Afghan forces securing the area and tending to the wounded.

Miller had some of the wounded transported aboard his helicopter so they could quickly receive medical treatment.

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack that appeared to be the closest a U.S. commanding general in Afghanistan has come to being shot or seriously harmed.

The insider attack delayed the key parliamentary elections in Kandahar by a week, they proceeded on schedule Saturday in the rest of the country.
An Afghan National Army soldier kills two United States Army soldiers in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which local police suspect is an insider attack. The killer is believed to be wounded.