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The Pentagon has identified the general killed today in Afghanistan as Major General Harold J. Greene His biography can be read here.
Our condolences to his family and friends.
Update:
Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby has confirmed that “An American general was killed today in Kabul, Afghanistan, when an individual believed to be a member of the Afghan security forces fired into a group of coalition troops.”
The coalition troops were on a routine site visit to the Marshal Fahim National Defense University, the Afghan army’s commissioned and noncommissioned officer academy, Kirby said during a news briefing today.
“There are a number of casualties as a result of the shooting, perhaps up to 15, to include some Americans,” he said. “Many were seriously wounded. Others received only minor injuries. The assailant was killed.”
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel extends his heartfelt condolences to the family of the fallen general on behalf of the men and women of the department, Kirby said.
The family notification process is not yet complete, the admiral said, and no further information will be released until that process finishes.
“I’m sure you can understand that we want to respect the notification process and the family’s privacy at this time,” he said.
Hagel received an update on the incident this morning from Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the International Security Assistance Force commander, Kirby said.
“And he pledged to General Dunford whatever support he and this department could provide with respect to the investigation,” he added.
“The incident will be jointly investigated by Afghan and ISAF authorities,” Kirby said. “That investigation is just now getting underway. We need to let it proceed before speculating about any specific circumstances.”
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Original Post:
Every death our troops suffer in Afghanistan — or in any combat zone — is a tragedy, regardless of branch of service, gender, rank, etc.
I have lamented the continuing casualties in Afghanistan in general and individually in numerous posts.
Today, we hear that a U.S. Army major general has been killed in Afghanistan.
The New York Times reports, “The officer was the highest-ranking member of the American military to die in hostilities in the Afghanistan war.”
Yes, this does make news because of the high rank of the casualty, but also because of the brazenness of the attack, because of who the attacker is believed to be and because this officer — along with all other U.S. troops in that country — was surely looking forward to a safe return home, to his loved ones, in a very short time.
You see, the Times reports that the general was killed by an Afghan soldier — the same troops for who we are sacrificing blood and treasure — shot at close range, at a place where it should be relatively safe for our troops, a military training academy on the outskirts of Kabul.
More on this despicable event:
The coalition officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity and would not release the name of the major general, said an unspecified number of other service members of the American-led coalition and Afghan soldiers, including a senior Afghan commander, also were shot. Their conditions were not immediately known.
[..]
Tensions at the military academy ran high in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, which took place around noon, and foreign troops appeared to be on edge, fearful of another attack.
While the Afghan Defense Ministry described the attacker as “wearing Afghan National Army uniform,” the Times adds “[this] has long been a standard description offered after Afghan troops attack their foreign counterparts,” and continues:
Other Afghan and coalition officials said they believed the shooter was an Afghan soldier. The coalition, in its brief statement, said the incident had involved “local Afghan and ISAF troops,” using the initials for the International Security Assistance Force, the formal name of the NATO-led coalition.
[..]
Tuesday’s shooting was the first so-called insider attack in Afghanistan in months. Such attacks, in which Afghan troops open fire on unsuspecting coalition forces, at one point posed a serious challenge to the war effort, sowing distrust and threatening to upend the American-led training mission that is vital to the long-term strategy for keeping the Taliban at bay.
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Though the number of attacks has dropped sharply since 2012, when dozens occurred, they remain a persistent threat for coalition troops serving alongside Afghan forces.
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Afghan and American commanders have said that they believe most of the insider attacks that have taken place were the work of ordinary soldiers who had grown alienated and angry over the continued presence of foreign troops here, and not carried out by Taliban fighters planted in Afghan units.
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The Taliban, which often takes credit for insider attacks, had no immediate comment on Tuesday. Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the insurgents, said he was still trying to collect information about the incident.
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But, he added, the Taliban had many people inside the camp, and that one of their loyalists could have been responsible for the attack.
Read more here
