Just In: 2 US Troops Killed in Afghanistan in Apparent Insider Attack

By Joe Saunders July 29, 2019 at 2:10pm

While peace talks are continuing between the United States and the Taliban, the situation for U.S. troops in Afghanistan is just as dangerous as ever.

An apparent insider attack proved that Monday when two American service members were killed, according to Fox News.

There weren’t many details available.

However, according to ABC News, the attack occurred at the Tanajoh military camp in the Shahwali Koot district of Kandahar province in the south.

A lone gunman opened fire on men who were supposed to be his comrades in arms.

According to ABC, the Taliban claimed in a statement that an “unidentified Afghan soldier fired his gun … killing two U.S. soldiers and wounding three.”

NATO’s Resolute Support mission announced the two U.S. deaths Monday while providing no details. Under Defense Department policy, names of the dead are withheld until 24 hours after next of kin are notified.

The deaths of the two service members in the southern part of the country mark the 11th and 12th in the country this year — just shy of the 13 U.S. troops who died in Afghanistan in 2018, according to Fox.

Meanwhile, peace talks are continuing in Qatar between U.S. officials and Taliban leaders, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said a deal could be reached by Sept. 1.

Do you think U.S. troops should return from Afghanistan?

On Monday in Washington, according to Fox, Pompeo said he has been directed by President Donald Trump to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan before the 2020 election.

“That’s my directive from the president of the United States,” Pompeo said.

“He’s been unambiguous: End the endless wars. Draw down. Reduce. It won’t just be us,” he said.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, on Sunday, a suicide bomber in Kabul attacked the offices of Amrullah Saleh, running mate of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, according to ABC.

At least 20 were killed in that attack and about 50 were wounded, The Washington Post reported.

Ghani is seeking re-election to another five-year term.

Saleh is the country’s former chief of intelligence.

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Tags:

Afghanistan, Just In, Mike Pompeo, Military, Taliban

Joe Saunders

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Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015.

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Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn't need a printing press to do it.

Birthplace

Philadelphia

Nationality

American