Afghan soldier opens fi re on US troops, killing two

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan soldier opened fire on U.S. troops in a restive eastern province of Afghanistan on Saturday, killing two and injuring at least two more, authorities said.

The shooting occurred in the Achin district of Afghanistan’s Nangahar province, according to a U.S. defense official, an area where both Islamic State and Taliban insurgents are contesting territory.

Early media reports suggested the assailant was an elite Afghan commando, although that is not confirmed. The gunman was killed by American troops, according to a security official in the province.

Achin has been the site of heavy fighting in recent months as U.S. Special Operations forces — including elite Army Rangers and Green Berets — have been working alongside Afghan commandos to route the Islamic State from the area. Three U.S. soldiers had died there this year before Saturday’s shooting.

The Taliban are also active in the area, and there have been reports of clashes between the two insurgent groups in recent weeks. A Taliban spokesman sent a text message to journalists Saturday claiming the alleged assailant was an “infiltrator” of the Afghan army.

Allied commanders provided limited details.

“We are aware of an incident in Eastern Afghanistan. We will release more information when appropriate,” Douglas High, the public affairs officer for Operation Resolute Support, the NATO mission in Afghanistan, said in an email statement to The Post.

Also Saturday, two Afghan border policemen were killed by U.S. aircraft fire during a joint operation in the southern province of Helmand. The U.S. military in a statement apologized for the deaths and said the incident was under investigation.

The three previous U.S. soldiers deaths in Achin make up the entirety of U.S. combat fatalities in Afghanistan in 2017. In early April, Staff Sgt. Mark R. De Alencar, 37, was killed by small-arms fire, followed by Sgt. Joshua P. Rodgers, 22, and Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas, 23, at the end of the month.

Rodgers and Thomas were killed during a joint Afghan-U.S. nighttime raid on an Islamic State headquarters building. The Pentagon is investigating if they were mortally wounded by friendly fire. The raid resulted in the death of the emir of the Islamic State’s branch in Afghanistan, Abdul Hasib, according to the Pentagon and Afghan officials. More than 30 other militants were also killed.