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Subscribe to RSSAn Afghan worker on a military base has allegedly killed three U.S. Marines in Helmand Province. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Updated at 9:25 a.m. ET: KABUL, Afghanistan -- Three U.S. Marines were shot dead by an Afghan worker on a military base in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan official told NBC News, raising to six the number of American service members who died in rogue attacks in the country in 24 hours.
The shooting took place on Friday night in the Garmsir district of Helmand province, not far from where three U.S. Marines were killed by an Afghan gunman earlier in the day, Dawood Ahmadi, spokesman for the Helmand province governor, told NBC News' Atia Abawi on Saturday.
In the earlier incident, an Afghan police commander opened fire on the U.S. service members after inviting them to a meeting to discuss security, according to Reuters. Another service member was injured in that attack.
Three US special ops troops killed, Afghan officials say
"Let me clearly say that those two incidents clearly do not reflect the overall situation here in Afghanistan," chief ISAF spokesman Brigadier-General Gunter Katz told journalists on Saturday.
Reuters reported that the Marines killed in the latest attack were shot dead by a base employee who turned his gun on them. Military sources said the man had not been wearing a uniform and it was unclear how he got hold of the weapon.
Three Marines were killed instantly, and the fourth was seriously wounded but the gunman escaped. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
"We are still investigating the incident to find out about the shooter and who he actually is -- whether an Afghan soldier or a civilian," Ahmadi, the Helmand governor's spokesman, told NBC News.
In a statement, ISAF said the gunman had been detained.
On Saturday, Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai condemned the killings of all six U.S. Marines in the two incidents, calling the perpetrators of the attacks "terrorists." He added that the country's enemies did not want "a secure Afghanistan with a stable army."
Bloody week
Green on blue shootings, in which Afghan police or soldiers turn their guns on their Western colleagues, have seriously eroded trust between the allies as NATO combat soldiers prepare to hand over to Afghan forces by 2014, after which most foreign forces will leave the country.
The NATO force says there have been 26 such attacks on foreign troops since January in which 34 people have been killed. Last year, there were 21 attacks in which 35 people were killed.
But a coalition spokesman said the killings by the Afghan worker would not be included in that tally as it did not involve a member of the Afghan security forces.
However Katz said the incidents were relatively isolated and were not hurting morale or cooperation between foreign forces and the 350,000-strong Afghan Security Forces.
"We have almost 500,000 police and soldiers working together, side by side, enhancing their trust and enhancing their cooperation in order together to fight for a better future for this country," he said.
Still, it was a bloody week for NATO forces in Afghanistan. Earlier on Friday, the Pentagon confirmed that three U.S. service members -- including a senior Army leader -- and an American aid worker were killed Wednesday by a suicide bomber in Kunar province.
Ahmad Jamshid / AP
More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.
The victims included Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, the most senior enlisted soldier for the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Griffin, 45, of Riverton, Wyo., was a Bronze Star recipient who first enlisted in the Army in 1988.
Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, 35, of West Point, N.Y., and Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray, 38, of Conyers, Ga., were also killed. USAID foreign service officer Ragaei Abdelfattah was identified as the other victim.
On Tuesday, two gunmen wearing Afghan army uniforms killed a U.S. soldier and wounded two others in Paktia province in the east.
Violence in Afghanistan is at its fiercest since U.S.-led Afghan troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001. Insurgents have extended their reach from traditional strongholds in southern and eastern areas to parts of the country once considered safe.
This is a breaking news story. Check again for more updates.
NBC News' Atia Abawi, Fazl Ahad and Reuters contributed to this report.
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American Military deaths in Afghanistan are double under Obama's less than 4 years vs Bush's 6 years. Just one of the facts that you will not get from the bias liberal media.
Do not forget who brought us there in the first place. Republican war mongers that lied and defrauded the people and pushed us into war.
Hmm Obama has had four years to end it so call HIM a few names eh and remember this is what OBAMA called the "GOOD" war...short term memory problems or just plain BIAS???
Joachim...Who cares who got us there, we can't fix that, but how about who's going to fix this?...quit bringing up bush all the time, thats spilt milk, lets focus on the future, and getting this dog@!$%# (afghanistan) off our shoes.
Every time I see 8 - 10 people more dead on PBS I keep thinking why those politicians in Washington don't go and serve, or why Romney does not send his sons. We have no business there, it is time to pack. Now!
You mean you want out of OBAMAS "good" war..Hmm he seems to enjoy it rh
So why do you want to let Islam here in the USA . Like most Arabs say Americans are stupid. You are looking in the mirror of the future. Either win or get the hell out. Proud to of served.
hey I have a solution, end these f u c k i n g pointless wars. The world has suffered enough you blood thirsty pigs.
There's a "hidden" death toll that nobody seems to realise or wish to talk about. Heroin usage has gone up 800% in this country and opium exports from Afghanistan have increased ten-fold. Sure, some will argue, "a junkie deserves it." Well, there's only two reasons people OD and crime runs rampant - 1. desire 2. Opportunity. Take away either, and it doesnt happen. Our troops are protecting the Karzai Drug Cartel's poppy fields. Business is good. And, business will be good for the next 28 months. We should care about ALL Americans. Not just our troops. But, the rich politicians in Washington DeCeit dont care and dont care to let us know this.
This loss of life means NOTHING to the US Government. Consider that MAJ Hasan killed 13 people in broad daylight in FT Hood, TX back in 2009. When will he ever be tried, or (try to say this with a straight face) convicted? Sorry about that "straight" remark, I know the ARMY is full of fags. The "judge" there (COL Gross) is nothing more than a gutless dung-heap. Gutless, Clueless and a Coward. That we can not defend (or refuse to defend) our own soldiers on our own soil should make it no suprise that we would continue to be fooled, tricked and slaughtered under the "illusion" that the Afghans want anything other than our dollars and our lives. They do not want our help, nor do they want to be our friends. Just remember, folks, every time you vote, you give an idiot a job.
@Paul
That's because we keep voting for the same idiots. A good start would simply be for every American to go and vote for whomever isn't already holding office. Fire the whole lot of them. Get a whole new crew in. If they can't do the job, then, fire them as well. We are to blame. The Taliban is not our enemy in terms of death toll comparitively. The enemy is within ourselves. We are to blame. All of us.
I doubt they published the finding on this shooting it boiled down to PC!! The FBI had proof of his loyalties and did as usual looked the other way sort of like our ICE and Border Patrol do can't insult the invading hoard now can we...and you forgot Mr Obama's take on this "Don't jump to conclusions" and later he called it "work place violence" gee whos side is this interloper on???
Anybody tired of the clusterf**k yet? Its a snake pit, there are no innocents if they allow the Taliban to take over again, let's leave and put them on notice that if any international criminal action comes out of their country again that they will not have a country.
What I find interesting when my kids are in the Middle East it is required to have your weapon with you at all times..So how do these Muslims kill and get away if everyone is armed?? Is there a new rule do not shoot untill they meet a certain of kills on base...this smells...
You obviously are not aware that the Afghans are the ones who guard most of our bases. Their military and their police, and that our troops in fact do not have their weapons with them at all times.
Hey I got an idea, lets just make it against the law for anyone except the US troops to have guns. That will stop all the violence won't it?
No.
Why all the fuss? War is hell. Everybody over there volunteered? Move along, nothing to see here.
Im a mom of 2 US Soldiers who are or have served in Afghanistan...Heres my message to the Obama Administration! Bring the troops home now! Grow a pair of balls and do the right thing and stop worrying about your political careers...How many more people have to die and families have to cry because you dont have the balls to make a decision.
Unfortunately, our work is not done over there, yet. Even when we turn over security to the Afgans in 2014, there will be a security force left behind, not nearly as many soldiers as there are now. Thank you for your sons' service and sacrifice. God be with them and protect them from harm.
sistah>....I remember a large group of college students in an auditorium listening to a speaker that was saying the same thing you are......These students gave the usual excuses why we should be there, and how it was helping to keep America safe.
THEN a military recruiter came into the auditorium and asked how many students wanted to join the "war effort", and said that he would be in the back after the presentation.
How many enlisted afterwards?....NONE
Your family did their duty, and all of you should be proud.
God bless you, ma'am, and I hope your sons return to you unharmed. I would no longer serve after the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I don't know why your sons joined the military, but something has gone terribly wrong. No one has to account for where the money has gone. No one can say flat out that the FT Hood attack by MAJ Hasan was an act of terrorism. June 2012 was declared by the Secretary of Defense as "Gay Pride Month". And I would doubt most soldiers are as fit and skilled as they are required by regulations to be -- but don't worry-- soon you will only need to be a drooling Mongoloid to serve. We are very close to that now. You have my sympathy as much as this country has caused me disgust.
we have no business over there, those people have been killing each other for thousands of years. they are not going to stop i say give both sides lots of guns and tell them to have at it. it would be no loss to the world. the U S needs to quit trying to be the world cop.
Right. Quit rebuilding countries we go to war with. Get the spoils and get out!
We need to get out - can't believe the ISAF representative even now lies to the American People - that is not the focus for this effort? Obviously not true - 7 - 10 US Marines have been murdered in the last week by the very same groups we are training - that should be enough of a message to show where these efforts are headed - a sad day for America when we continuously sacrifice our own and continue to offer assistance to nations that will never be successful. We look like weak idiots that just say oh-well - we will still help you even though you murder us and betray our trust and help. How many more military families and lives will be sacrificed?
Yes, but we are talking about two out of 350,000. You are going to get defectors who are either being bribed by the Taliban or Taliban infiltrating Afghan soldiers and workers. Heck, we have corruption in our government. Do you not think there would be corruption in a rogue country?
load up the transports with troops and most of the good equipment and bring it home to keep our borders safe make sure the gps is working on what is left behind and then when the taliban take these vehicles for a test drive the drone can kill 20 at a time and we can publisize it for them to see
Paul Ryan will fix this, just wait and see.
Ryan is more of a girly man than Romney.LOL.
Thanks for the humor....
But the question is?.....Does he take baby steps when he walks like Romney?
We should just pick up and leave immediately. I don't care what agreements have been made. The whole place is not worth one more American life.
Maybe after another generation or two the Afghanis will want to join the world. Until they do, let's stay out and if anything at all threatening appears on our satellite view, like military facilities or equipment we can take it out from the air.
So you just want us to pick up and leave, and then the Taliban regain power, so we can go back in? That makes less sense.
John: stop watching Glen Beck.......
Less than 24 hours after three seasoned military men are murdered by Afghan SECURITY THEY TRUSTED at a dinner table, this takes place on a military base and no one knows whether this killer is military or civilian or how he got hold of the gun.
THIS is what our troops are having to contend with over there? Why? Just load them up and bring them home. One more death there is directly on Obama's head. Bush and Cheney starated it and the destruction of Iraq should see them charged as war criminals if for nothing else as profiting from it at the expense of American taxpayers.
But every minute we are in Afghanistan from the time Obama took office is his responsibility, and these deaths of our men from attacks like these should negate any ties we have with them.
If Special Ops troops are sitting ducks in these situations, and seasoned veterans can't tell a lying snake in the grass from an ally, regular troops are being set up for murder by leaving them there.
You're an idiot. We went over there because terrorists from there attacked America. It was the right choice to go in. In Iraq, we removed a ruthless regime that raped and killed its citizens. I can care less if there were actual weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We had to take out that evil dictator. Bush wasn't perfect, but he acted in our best interest to keep our country protected.
Afghanistan was where our enemy was, not Iraq. We ravaged Iraq and we are leaving it in worse shape than it was before, and its devastation has bankrupted our own country and ruined a generation of young men and women in the bargain.
It's not our job to remove ruthless regimes, else we would be in Africa, Somalia and Syria and we would definitely have gone into Haiti years ago and removed the damned ruler there who allows four year old children to be bartered and sold by their own parents. They now have over 350,000 of those children as slaves there while their parents pop out more and its allowed by law and and our own government as we keep sending billions to support the practice, so don't give me the "we removed a ruthless regime" crap.... we helped set up that regime in the first place.
We are nothing more than the mallet tenderizing the landscape for China to go in and extract the rich mineral deposits from Afghanistan and the blood of our troops is fertilizing the ground.
Take YOUR ass over there, or better yet, send your own sons and daughters there if you are so in favor of staying. It will be like Iraq.... the "democratically elected" rulers will be running for the planes to come to America along with our troops who are leaving and the sand will cover all traces of our visit there in less than six months after we have left.
We can't bring too many troops home before the election because there aren't any jobs for them and the numbers might go the wrong way. Our government believes it's better to sacrifice a few in a useless war for the good of the many. We will never defeat the Afghans because no-one can subjugate an armed population. Unless we can disarm them we will have these losses forever. We would still be fighting Nazi Germany if Hitler hadn't disarmed his own people before the war. Who will be the last American killed in Afghanistan?
My grandson just finished a tour in Afgan, is now heading to Japan, thank goodness. He said morale among the troops is very bad, but he said you won't hear that on the news, nobody wants to be the next one killed, because he and the others know its a lost cause. This war like Iraq, isn't about nothing more than keeping the military industrial complex going, to justify their trillion dollar a year budget.
Shame ! Hilary and Barack and the rest just don't get it. You can conquer the person and country but you can't take their souls.
Why not send a few marines out to clean up a few villages over this sort of things? Oh, that's been done, but the US soldiers who did it got in deep sh1t over it. Seems like a double standard. The Afghanis can fight, but the US can't do anything about it. Marines, thanks for your service and sacrifice. Afghan terrorists, prepare to meet your ancestors.
That approach was tried unsuccessfully by the Nazis against both the Polish and French resistance.
Get our combat men & women out of that county and all others now! They have shown that they do not want us, nor do they respect us. They only have hate for the USA!
They will take out 3 of us for every one of them. yeah just send in your boys to do it..You want to conquer their souls them you must occupy and we are not fools are we ? We have won the battle but not the war of the minds. They sit and act conquered but when you turn your head look out. Obviously they have a plan, how many of our young can we afford to waste on this silent war . They figure sneak attacks will work until we leave..
Like Vietnam, you learn to trust NO ONE. Your eyes are doing 360 degree sweeps every waking moment. Like Vietnam, these wars were built on lies. Get our guys out of there, NOW! Stop being the world police! Oh, that's right, we have our "National Interests" to worry about. Ambiguous a term, as I have ever heard. (rolls eyes)
I say let the Marines Rape those haji's a new A$$h0le
So become barbarian criminals is your solution. Someone needs to put you in a jail cell and throw away the key!