Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Afghanistan: US OFFICIALS: US GENERAL KILLED IN AFGHAN ATTACK

A two-star American general was killed in an apparent insider attack Tuesday by a member of the Afghan security forces, U.S. officials said.
A man dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire on foreign troops at Camp Qargha, a base west of the capital, Kabul. The attacker wounded approximately 15 people, of which roughly half were Americans, one official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information by name ahead of an official announcement.
Among the wounded was a German brigadier general.
Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Defense Ministry, said a "terrorist in an army uniform" opened fire on both local and international troops. Azimi said the shooter had been killed.
The Qargha shooting comes as so-called "insider attacks" — incidents in which Afghan security turn on their NATO partners — largely dropped last year. In 2013, there were 16 deaths in 10 separate attacks. In 2012, such attacks killed 53 coalition troops in 38 separate attacks.

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