News   /   Afghanistan

Gunman in Afghan army uniform kills two Americans

In this photograph taken on August 23, 2016, medics carry a stretcher with a heavily wounded US soldier in Kandahar, Afghanistan. (Photo by AFP)

A gunman wearing Afghan military uniform has shot dead at least two Americans and wounded three others at a base in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, the US military says.

The shooting occurred as NATO service members were inspecting the base on Wednesday morning.

The US military command in Kabul confirmed in a statement that the American deaths included one soldier and one civilian. Another soldier and two civilians were also injured.

The statement added that the shooter was killed.

"The two individuals were killed during an attack near a coalition base by an unknown assailant, who was later killed," the statement said, adding, "They were conducting duties as part of the larger NATO mission to train, advise, and assist the Afghan security services."

A spokesman for the Western military alliance earlier said officials were investigating the incident.

NATO also said in a statement, "One US service member and one US civilian died as a result of wounds sustained in Kabul today."

In a similar attack in August last year, a man wearing an Afghan military uniform shot dead two US soldiers in the southern province of Helmand.

Also in April last year, an American soldier was killed in a firefight between US and Afghan troops in eastern Afghanistan.

Several NATO soldiers have been killed by their local colleagues in the so-called green-on-blue attacks over the past few years in various parts of Afghanistan.

Senior officials in Kabul describe the green-on-blue attacks, in which Afghans turn their weapons on their foreign allies, as a new tactic of Taliban to create distrust and hatred between Afghan and US-led coalition forces.

Afghanistan faces security challenges years after the US and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku