Afghan in uniform kills American

At least 2 U.S. soldiers hurt in attack after diplomatic talks

Afghans gather Wednesday in the compound of the provincial governor in Jalalabad where an attacker in an Afghan military uniform fired on U.S. troops.
Afghans gather Wednesday in the compound of the provincial governor in Jalalabad where an attacker in an Afghan military uniform fired on U.S. troops.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- One American soldier was killed and at least two were wounded by an Afghan in a military uniform when a firefight broke out after a U.S. Embassy delegation's visit in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan officials said Wednesday.

American soldiers subsequently killed the assailant in a shootout. One Afghan soldier was killed and two were wounded in the attack, the officials said.

The attack highlighted the threats faced by roughly 10,000 U.S. troops remaining in Afghanistan after the United States' longest war was officially declared over at the end of last year.

Those troops, who were expected to number half that many by the end of this year, will now remain in place after President Barack Obama agreed last month to delay their planned exit because of concerns that a resurgent Taliban force could escalate its offensives this year.

The mission of the remaining troops is mostly to train and advise Afghan security forces. But Wednesday's assault was a reminder that even day-to-day tasks such as protecting U.S. diplomats in routine meetings could turn deadly.

In the past few weeks, the Taliban insurgency has begun to ramp up attacks after a nearly three-month winter lull, staging several suicide bombings in the capital and in other areas of the country.

U.S. Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a spokesman for NATO's U.S.-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, said one service member died in the firefight Wednesday, but he did not reveal the nationality, in accordance with military guidelines.

A senior Afghan military official in Jalalabad, where the attack took place, said one American soldier was killed and two were wounded, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

Later, Cmdr. Elissa Smith, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed that "several" U.S. troops were wounded but could not clarify how many.

Whether the assailant was an Afghan army soldier or an insurgent disguised as one was not immediately clear. Afghan police officials in Jalalabad said the attacker was a soldier, while Afghan military officials said they were not certain and that an investigation was underway.

If it was a so-called insider attack perpetrated by an Afghan soldier, it would mark the second instance this year of such an assault.

In late January, an Afghan soldier killed three American contractors at a military base attached to Kabul's international airport, triggering a shootout in which the attacker was killed. A fourth American contractor was wounded in that attack.

Insider attacks have long plagued the relationship between Afghan forces and their U.S. and international allies, breaking down trust and reducing interaction. The assaults by rogue Afghan soldiers or police rose in the last years of the NATO combat mission, which formally ended in December. Assaults surged in 2012, when there were 37 such attacks that killed 51 people, including 32 U.S. troops, according to the Pentagon.

Wednesday's shooting unfolded shortly after a senior U.S. official held a meeting in Jalalabad with the provincial governor, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Monica Cummings. Also present at what Afghan officials described as a meeting about security and reconstruction needs were senior NATO officials, American soldiers protecting the entourage and governors from two neighboring provinces.

"We are aware that there was an exchange of gunfire involving Resolute Support service members near the provincial governor's compound in Jalalabad," Cummings said in a statement. "All chief of mission personnel of the visiting party are accounted for."

Ambassador Michael McKinley was not present at the meeting, Afghan officials said. The U.S. Embassy did not provide further details on which senior U.S. official was meeting with the governor. But Afghan officials in Jalalabad said it was Donald Yamamoto, who also holds ambassadorial rank.

Yamamoto, a former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia and principal deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, served as a senior U.S. civilian representative to Northern Afghanistan, based in the U.S. Consulate in Mazar-e Sharif, where he was sent during last year's elections. He now is the senior civilian representative in Afghanistan for Regional Command North, the State Department said.

After the attack, Yamamoto and his team were flown out of Jalalabad by helicopter, U.S. officials said.

Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal, chief police spokesman for Nangahar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital, said the attack happened after the delegation of U.S. and Afghan officials left the governor's compound.

"One Afghan National Army soldier, who was on the top of a military truck with a machine gun, was guarding the governor compound along with the American soldiers," said Mashreqiwal. "He opened fire on the American soldiers. The attacker was then killed in return fire."

He added that one Afghan soldier was arrested and was being investigated for possible involvement in the attack.

Information for this article was contributed by William Branigin of The Washington Post and by staff members of The Associated Press.

A Section on 04/09/2015

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