A service member of the US armed forces has been killed and another one sustained wounds in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in an apparent insider attack, the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission (RSM) in the war-torn country reports.
“Initial reports indicate the attacker was a member of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. Initial reports also indicate the attacker was immediately killed by other Afghan Forces,” the so-called RSM said in a statement on Saturday.
It further said that an investigating had been launched into the case, adding that the wounded trooper was in a “stable condition”. However, it did not disclose the identity of the murdered soldier.
Afghanistan’s Tolo News also reported that both American service members were medically evacuated to Bagram Air Base and that the wounded trooper was undergoing medical treatment. The air base is the largest US military base in Afghanistan, located in the center-east province of Parwan.
The deadly incident is the latest in a series of “green-on-blue” attacks in which members of the Afghan army have shot dead American or coalition advisers since January. Last month, a NATO-led Czech soldier was killed in the western province of Herat.
A recent report showed that the US forces were losing ground to Taliban militant group despite their 17 years of presence in the militancy-infested country.
According to the iCasualties website, 3,555 US-led troops, including 2,414 American soldiers, have been killed since the onset of the aggression on Afghanistan some 17 years ago, following the 9/11 terror attacks.
The US, along with a number of fellow-NATO members, invaded Afghanistan in 2001, toppling a Taliban regime in control of most of the country at the time, but it has failed to restore security in the country plagued by militancy and terrorism.
The administration of US President Donald Trump is now negotiating with the Taliban group, excluding the Kabul government.
Over 8,000 people lost their lives or were wounded in Afghanistan between January and September this year, with the country on track to be deadlier than Syria in 2018.
Kabul blames the Taliban militant group for the bulk of the deaths.
Last year, Washington added thousands of additional troops to its forces in Afghanistan. The White House claims the American troops are deployed in Afghanistan to train Afghan forces and conduct counterterrorism missions against militant groups.