U.S. military aircraft effectively "wiped out" an Afghan military checkpoint in Tarin Kot on Wednesday after soldiers there mistakenly fired on a joint patrol of Afghan and American troops, according to The New York Times.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Smiley was wounded during a recent insider attack in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province, a spokesman for the NATO Resolute Support mission told Task & Purpose on Sunday.
Any illusions that the Taliban were interested in negotiating a peaceful settlement with the Afghan government and its international partners have been dashed by four days of grueling fighting across the country, during which the Taliban have reportedly occupied Ghazni city and wiped out up to 100 Afghan commandos in a demoralizing blow to Afghan security forces.
Finally, a bright spot amid 17 years of war in Afghanistan: insurgent control of the country has started to diminish for the first time in nearly two years, according to a quarterly report to Congress from the Special Investigator General for Afghanistan Reconstruction published on July 30.
In the aftermath of the insider attack that took the life of a U.S. soldier last week, Army officials are reaffirming their concerns over the prevalence of such incidents among U.S. military personnel deployed to Afghanistan to train, advise and assist local security forces, the Associated Press reports.
A U.S. service member was killed and two others wounded on Saturday during an apparent insider attack in southern Afghanistan, defense officials announced.
