US service member killed in 'insider attack' in Afghanistan

IANS  |  Washington 

A US service member has been killed and two others injured in what appears to be an insider attack in Afghanistan, said.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, or whether they had been apprehended.

However, the statement said it was "an apparent insider attack".

The two wounded service members are in a "stable" condition, said, adding it would not be releasing any further details until next-of-kin had been informed.

But a said the shooting happened at the airport in Tarinkot, the capital of province - although they were unable to confirm this detail with any officials.

The have also released a statement, saying an Afghan soldier opened fire on US soldiers in

The attack comes a year after three US special forces soldiers were shot dead by one of their Afghan colleagues. It was claimed by the

However, these kind of attacks -- where local troops turn on international forces and often referred to as "green on blue" incidents -- are not necessarily the work of militants infiltrating the security forces.

Cultural misunderstandings and combat stress have also been named as the cause in previous attacks.

The US still has an estimated 14,000 troops in the country helping support the Afghan military, despite NATO's combat mission in officially ended in 2014.

--IANS

pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sun, July 08 2018. 08:02 IST