2 Americans are killed at base near Kabul
3 also injured in attack by gunman wearing Afghan army uniform
KABUL, Afghanistan — Two Americans were killed and another three were injured in a rare attack on foreign troops near the Afghan capital Wednesday, U.S. and Afghan officials said.
A gunman fired on international advisers at an ammunition depot near Camp Morehead, a training site for Afghan commandos, about 6 miles south of Kabul.
The attack, which took place near the entrance of the base, killed one U.S. service member and injured another. One U.S. civilian was also killed, and two more were wounded in the assault, a statement from the NATO-led coalition said.
The gunman, who the Afghan Defense Ministry said was wearing an Afghan army uniform, was killed after international troops responded with gunfire. The injured Americans remained in stable condition, NATO said.
The United States sup- A mother and daughter recuperate this month after an attack on a Shiite shrine in Kabul. The U.N. said Wednesday that the number of children killed or wounded in Afghanistan’s conflict has increased in 2016 over the same period last year. plies the NATOmission with about 6,800 troops to advise and assist Afghan troops, which are battling a fierce Taliban insurgency in key areas across the country. An additional 3,000 U.S. troops are dedicated Operation Freedom Sentinel, a separate counterterrorism mission focused on al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
TheU.S. official said it was not clear Wednesday whether the assailant was in fact a member of the Afghan National Army. But Wednesday’s shooting appeared to be what is known as an “insider” or green-on-blue attack, where Afghan allies turn on their U.S. and foreign mentors.
At least 150 coalition troops have been killed in such attacks since 2008, according to data compiled by the Long War Journal, which is published by the D.C.-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
The assaults — which have been attributed both to Taliban infiltration and cultural differences between Afghan and foreign troops — surged in number from 2011 to 2013. But the attacks became more infrequent as the bulk of U.S. and NATO troops withdrew from the country. U.S. forces have suffered only two combat casualties in Afghanistan this year, both of which occurred in the volatile Helmand province in the country’s south.
Civilian casualties
KABUL, Afghanistan — The number of children killed and wounded in Afghanistan’s conflict increased in the first nine months of 2016, compared to the same period last year, the U.N. mission said in a report released Wednesday.
The U.N.’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said it has documented 2,461 casualties among children in 2016 — 639 deaths and 1,822 wounded. That’s a 15 percent increase, compared to the January-September period in 2015.
Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, UNAMA documented 8,397 conflict-related civilian casualties with 2,562 deaths and 5,835 wounded. That represents a 1 percent decrease, compared to the same period in 2015, said the mission.
At Camp Morehead, elite Afghan commando units learn ambush tactics, how to call in airstrikes, and train for short missions. But the commandos, which number about 11,000, are increasingly stretched thin.
More than 2,350 U.S. troops have died supporting military operations in Afghanistan since 2001.