Seven US soldiers wounded in Afghan ‘insider attack’

Second 'green-on-blue' attack in a week comes as US mulls major boost to troop numbers in Afghanistan to counter resurgent Taliban.

US soldiers with the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force on patrol outside Bagram Airbase, some 50 km north of Kabul, on February 28, 2009. Shah Marai / AFP

Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan // Seven American troops were wounded on Saturday in an insider attack by an Afghan soldier at a military base.

The so-called “green-on-blue” attack at Camp Shaheen near the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif is the latest in a string of incidents where Afghan soldiers have turned their weapons on international forces training them.

It comes as Washington is expected to announce an increase in the US military deployment in the country to bolster Afghan forces who are struggling to contain the Taliban’s nationwide offensive.

“Seven US service members wounded, evacuated for treatment,” US-led Nato forces said in a brief statement on Twitter. “Insider attack Camp Shaheen, Mazar-e Sharif under investigation.”

“At this time we can confirm there are no US or Nato Resolute Support fatalities,” the international coalition said.

The Afghan defence ministry said the attacker was shot dead.

“US soldiers have been wounded. One Afghan soldier was killed and one was wounded in the incident.”

An Afghan commando killed three American troops and wounded another in eastern Nangarhar province on June 10, in an insider attack that was claimed by the Taliban.

The Taliban did not say if they were directly behind the latest attack, only crediting a “patriotic Afghan soldier” for the assault.

Camp Shaheen is the headquarters of the Afghan army’s 209th Corps where around 150 Afghan soldiers and policemen were killed in April when it was stormed by Taliban fighters dressed in military uniforms and wearing suicide vests.

The US defence secretary James Mattis said last week that he would present a new US military strategy for Afghanistan, along with adjusted troop numbers, in the coming weeks to president Donald Trump.

American military commanders in Afghanistan have requested thousands of additional troops to boost the Nato force’s presence in the country.

US troops in Afghanistan currently number about 8,400, with another 5,000 from Nato allies, who mainly serve in a training and advisory capacity.

The Afghan conflict is the longest in American history, with US-led forces at war there since 2001, after the ousting of the Taliban regime.

* Agence France-Presse