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US Service Member Killed In ‘Apparent Insider Attack’ In Afghanistan

REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

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Will Racke Immigration and Foreign Policy Reporter
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A U.S. service member was killed in an apparent insider attack in Afghanistan on Monday, military officials said, the second American casualty in a “green-on-blue” attack in the span of two months.

The service member, whose name is being withheld pending notification to next of kin, is the sixth American soldier to be killed in Afghanistan in 2018.

“The sacrifice of our service member, who volunteered for a mission to Afghanistan to protect his country, is a tragic loss for all who knew and all who will now never know him,” Gen. Scott Miller, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement. “Our duty now is to honor him, care for his family and continue our mission.”

Another service member was wounded in the attack and is currently in stable condition, according to Operation Resolute Support, the U.S. military training mission in Afghanistan.

Monday’s attack was the second time in two months that an American serviceman has been killed by a member of Afghanistan’s U.S.-backed security forces. Army Cpl. Joseph Maciel was killed in July by an Afghan soldier in an attack that wounded at least two other servicemen at an airfield in central Afghanistan. (RELATED: Afghan Soldier Kills Army Serviceman In Insider Attack)

Resolute Support did not specify where in Afghanistan the attack took place, only that it happened in the eastern part of the country.

Green-on-blue attacks, which were a common occurrence in Afghanistan as recently as 2014, have declined in recent years as the U.S. has drawn down troop levels there. But military officials told Congress in 2017 that attacks on coalition forces by trusted Afghan nationals could increase due to the “explosive growth in personnel” in the Afghan army.

There are roughly 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan supporting the U.S.-backed government with counterterrorism operations and a “train, advise, and assist” mission to Afghan security forces.

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