WASHINGTON (AP) — An American general has become the highest-ranking U.S. Army officer to be killed in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars.
A Pentagon spokesman says the general was killed in an apparent insider attack today by a member of the Afghan security forces. The shooting wounded another 15 people, about half of them Americans.
According to the spokesman, the assailant was dressed in an Afghan army uniform when he fired into a group of international soldiers at a defense university at a base west of Kabul. The shooter was then killed.
The attack occurred during a visit to the university by coalition members.
The number of 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, 53 coalition troops were killed in 38 separate attacks.
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147-w-35-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent, with Josh Earnest, White House press secretary)–The White House is calling today’s insider attack in Kabul that killed a U.S. two-star general “painful.” AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports. (5 Aug 2014)
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146-w-30-(Sagar Meghani (SAH’-gur meh-GAH’-nee), AP national security correspondent, with Rear Admiral John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary)–A U.S. general has been killed in Afghanistan. AP National Security Correspondent Sagar Meghani reports from the Pentagon. ((refers to Tuesday as ‘today’)) (5 Aug 2014)
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134-a-06-(Rear Admiral John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, at news conference)-“an Afghan soldier”-Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon’s press secretary, says it appears to have been an insider attack. (5 Aug 2014)
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APPHOTO MAH110: Afghanistan National Army soldiers stand guard at a gate of Camp Qargha, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. A man dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire Tuesday on foreign troops at a military base, causing casualties, an Afghan military spokesman said. In a statement NATO said it was investigating an “incident” involving both Afghan and international troops at Camp Qargha which trains officers for the country’s army. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini) (5 Aug 2014)
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