At least 7 U.S. soldiers injured in insider attack at Afghan base

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan soldier opened fire on U.S. soldiers Saturday, injuring at least seven, the U.S. military said. It was the second such insider attack by an Afghan soldier in the past week.

Abdul Qahar Araam, spokesman for the Afghan army’s 209th Corps, confirmed that an insider attack took place at a camp in Mazar-e Sharif. Araam said the soldiers returned fire and killed the attacker.

Gen. Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, also confirmed the attack.

The Resolute Support mission announced on its Twitter feed that seven U.S. service members were wounded but said there were no U.S. fatalities. It said one Afghan soldier was killed and one wounded.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid praised the attack in a statement sent to the media. But he did not claim Taliban responsibility.

Robert Purtiman, a spokesman for the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan, said that the U.S. military was aware of “an incident” at Camp Shaheen in Mazar-e Sharif. He said there were no U.S. or NATO fatalities, but noted that U.S. soldiers were wounded.

Camp Shaheen is home to the Afghan army’s 209th Corps and was the site of a complex Taliban attack in April that killed more than 130 Afghan soldiers.

On June 10, three U.S. soldiers were killed and another was wounded in the Achin district of Nangahar province, when an Afghan commando opened fire on them. The soldiers were assisting operations against the Islamic State in the restive eastern province of Afghanistan.

In that case Mujahid claimed that the shooter was a Taliban loyalist who infiltrated the army to seek out opportunities to attack foreign soldiers.