Spate of green on blue claims 4
Stars & Stripes reports that four US servicemembers have been killed in the last two weeks as a result of people wearing Afghan uniforms infiltrating training waiting for the opportunity. Both infiltrators died in their attacks.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force reported that the latest attack occurred in eastern Afghanistan when a person wearing an Afghan National Security Force uniform shot at ISAF servicemembers.
The gunman killed one international servicemember before being killed himself, according to an ISAF release. Officials did not identify the nationality of the ISAF servicemember killed. The release did not say whether anyone else was wounded.
On Saturday, three U.S. Special Forces soldiers died when another individual in an ANSF uniform opened fire on them while they were conducting range training in Gardez, in Paktia province, also in eastern Afghanistan. Killed were Staff Sgt. Liam J. Nevins, 32, of Denver, Colo., and Staff Sgt. Timothy R. McGill, 30, of Ramsey, N.J., both members of the 19th Special Forces Group; and Spc. Joshua J. Strickland, 23, of Woodstock, Ga., who was assigned to the 1st Special Forces Group.
Afghan officials said the attacker in Gardez was also shot and killed.
According to the article, the last similar attack occurred on July 9th. S&S also notes that these occurrences have dropped markedly since the troops have been allowed to arm themselves while in Afghanistan last year. But of course, the forces of evil are trying to make it appear as if they’re running us out of the country as we rush for the exits.
I’ll admit that I’m guessing that the latest death was a US soldier, but mainly because no one has said anything yet about what nationality the person was, which is modus operandi for US command. I may be wrong, and I’ll admit it if I am.
Category: Terror War
I don’t know what the one size fits all solution is. I did PSD in Iraq and Afghanistan – my solution was to carry a SAW and a ton of ammo to make it very clear what would happen if I was fired upon. Never had a problem, even when surrounded by large numbers of armed ANSF. My unit was one of the ones that was bombed in the Dec 2004 DFAC incident in Mosul, so I am always hyper vigilant when around “native” troops, but you can’t see everything all of the time, as our past experiences with Green on Blue show. I still don’t understand the ISAF unloaded weapon thing – we were always red whenever we went out to events in RC South, before the policy change? Maybe it was a Kabul thing?
You carried a SAW on PSD?
I had to google what a PSD was, since it reads as something way funnier in navy-speak.
#2 Short barrel, sliding stock (old style)