• At least 3 US soldiers killed by Afghanistan bomb

    By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News

    At least three U.S. soldiers died Tuesday in southern Kandahar province when their convoy struck a powerful improvised explosive device, officials said.

    The U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force said in a brief statement that three of its members had been killed when their convoy struck the IED in southern Afghanistan. It did not release their nationalities.

    Earlier, however, a NATO spokesman had said four U.S. service members had been killed and others were wounded, The Associated Press reported.

    Reuters also reported that four American service members had been killed, citing Kandahar provincial spokesman Jawid Ahmad Faisal.

    There was no immediate explanation for the differing number of deaths.

    The deaths came just a day after three Georgian solders with the ISAF were killed by an IED in Helmand province.

     

  • Seven US troops killed in separate Afghan attacks

    Mohammad Ismail / Reuters

    Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the CIA is going to continue funneling large amounts of cash to his government.

    By Kiko Itasaka, Jason White and Matthew DeLuca, NBC News

    Seven U.S. troops were killed Saturday in two separate incidents in Afghanistan – the second time in the past week that so many American lives were lost in a single day in the war-torn country.

    Five were killed in an attack involving an improvised explosive device in the southern part of Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. Kandahar governor's spokesperson Jawed Faizel said the device was a large roadside bomb.

    Two other U.S. troops died after an Afghan National Army soldier turned his weapon on them in what is commonly referred to as a “green on blue” attack, the ISAF said. In addition, the ISAF said another coalition service member died after an insurgent attack in northern Afghanistan, but the nationality was not released. 

    Nineteen American personnel have died over the past week, including a series of air crashes and the attacks on Saturday. Seven people died when a U.S. civilian cargo plane crashed and exploded shortly after takeoff from Bagram Airfield outside Kabul earlier in the week.

    The deaths came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said at a news conference that the CIA would continue funneling large amounts of cash to his government.

    According to The Associated Press, Karzai said he told the CIA’s Kabul station chief: "'Because of all these rumors in the media, please do not cut all this money because we really need it. We want to continue this sort of assistance.' And he promised that they are not going to cut this money."

    "We have spent it in different areas (and) solved lots of our problems," Karzai reportedly said.

    The CIA payments were made in cash, Karzai said, adding that "all the money which we have spent, receipts have been sent back to the intelligence service of the United States monthly."

    NBC News’ Khyber Shinwari, Courtney Kube, Jim Miklaszewski and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    MSNBC's Craig Melvin reports that five U.S. service members were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

    Related:

    This story was originally published on Sat May 4, 2013 10:26 AM EDT

  • Officials: Seven died in US cargo plane crash in Afghanistan

    Officials say video appears to show a cargo plane that crashed in Afghanistan on Monday, killing seven people. Warning: Some viewers may find this video disturbing.

    By Kiko Itasaka and Akbar Shinwari, NBC News

    KABUL, Afghanistan — Seven people were killed when a U.S.-run civilian cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff at Bagram Airfield outside of Kabul, officials said on Tuesday.

    A spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) added that the cause of Monday's crash was unknown, but dismissed Taliban claims of responsibility, saying there were no reports of "enemy activity" around the base.

    ISAF did not release details on the nationalities of those killed, referring questions to National Air Cargo, the company running the flight.

    National Air Cargo officials were not immediately available for comment. 

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Anja Niedringhaus / AP

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    The Taliban claimed in a statement on Monday that it had shot down an American plane. It said the alleged downing of the plane was part of its spring offensive, which began Sunday and which the Taliban pledged would be "monumental.”

    On Monday, ISAF's Lt. Quenton Roehricht said the plane had crashed "very shortly" after taking off at about 3 p.m. local time (6:30 a.m. ET).

    The cargo plane crash came two days after four U.S. service members were killed when their surveillance aircraft in southern Afghanistan went down in bad weather. 

    NBC News' F. Brinley Bruton and Reuters contributed to this report.

    Related:

    The Taliban has issued a warning that it will increase attacks on foreign military forces in Afghanistan. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

     

  • Taliban marks start of 'monumental' spring offensive with deadly attack

    The Taliban has issued a warning that it will increase attacks on foreign military forces in Afghanistan. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

    By Ron Mott, Correspondent, NBC News

    KABUL — It didn’t take long. Within hours of announcing the start of its annual spring offensive,  the Taliban in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for an early-morning attack in the eastern part of the country that killed at least three police officers.

    "In addition to suicide bombings, insurgents warned of coordinating ‘insider’ attacks against ‘foreign transgressors’," the Taliban said in a statement on Sunday.

    The Taliban, known for employing bombastic language in describing its achievements--claims frequently invalidated or unproven--hailed the 2013 spring offensive as "monumental.”

    This year, the Taliban's annual declaration of increased violence--coinciding with the break from harsh winter weather--is widely considered an especially crucial test for President Hamid Karzai's government as it prepares to assume control of the nation's security from coalition forces, which are slated to withdraw combat troops in 2014.

    Abdul Mueed / EPA

    Security officials check a car in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Sunday. Security was intensified following the announcement by Taliban militants that they were launching their spring offensive.

    That challenge has been particularly lethal so far in April as Afghan security forces increasingly take the lead in the 11-year war.  The month began with an ambush of a courthouse in western Afghanistan by nine suicide attackers disguised as soldiers that left at least 44 dead, injuring more than 100.

    A few days later, 25-year-old American diplomat Anne Smedinghoff was among five U.S. citizens mortally wounded by a car bombwhile their convoy headed to a school to deliver books. On Friday, 45 people on a bus died in a fiery crash with a burning oil tanker, which had come under insurgent attack. 

    According to The Associated Press, 478 people—217 of these insurgents—have been killed in violence around the country so far in April. A total of 447 people, including 268 insurgents, were killed during the same months in 2012, according to the AP.

    ‘NATO has done nothing’
    In the capital Sunday, storefronts were largely shuttered for Victory Day, commemorating the 1992 defeat of Communist rule, but tailor Zulmai Mohamadi was open for business, lamenting the prolonged conflict and its impact on daily life.

    “NATO has done nothing for us,” the 38-year-old father of seven said. “In the past 11 years, what can I say? They have done nothing. They did whatever they did for their own interests and not for us.

    “Our poor nation is in the same condition of poverty and all those problems. I think the future will remain the same in future years: poverty with a lot of problems.” 

    Others, though, expressed more hopeful sentiments, even amid insurgent threats.

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Anja Niedringhaus / AP

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    “We have our own security forces, the Afghan police and army,” said 28-year-old Sofia Farkhunda. “They are working for the community. They have controlled the situation very well. That’s why I’m hopeful that everything will go well because our police are better prepared and trained.”

    The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the NATO-led group involving some 66,000 American troops, echoed that confidence.

    "The Afghan people should not fear Taliban threats," ISAF said in a statement. "The Afghan National Security Forces have wisely used the winter months to prepare for taking over the security lead throughout Afghanistan by mid-2013. They are ready."

    New Taliban offensive
    The Taliban dubbed its operation "Khalid bin Waleed," honoring the Islamic general known as the "Drawn Sword of God" and a companion of the prophet Muhammad.

    "We once again call on all the officials and workers of the stooge Karzai regime to break away from this decaying administration in order to conform to Islamic commands, national interests and protection of yourselves, and to choose a life of prosperity living alongside your own people in an atmosphere of peace and security," the Taliban said in its statement.

    NBC News' Akbar Shinwari and Kiko Itasaka, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

    Rahmatullah Alizad / AFP - Getty Images

    Men carry the coffins of police officers who were killed in a roadside bomb ambush in Afghanistan's Ghazni province on Sunday.

    Related:

    Plane crash kills four American service members in Afghanistan

    'We have to go': Afghans ready to flee country as foreign troops withdraw

    To Boston From Kabul With Love

  • Plane crash kills four American service members in Afghanistan

    By Courtney Kube, Pentagon Producer, NBC News

    Four American service members were killed Saturday in an airplane crash in southern Afghanistan, a U.S. military official said.


    The cause of the crash is under investigation, but the International Security Assistance Force said in a brief statement that initial reports indicated the crash did not involve enemy activity.

    The province's police chief told Reuters that bad weather caused the crash in Zabul province in the district of Shahjoi. A U.S. diplomat was killed along with several other Americans in a bomb blast in Zabul province earlier this month.

    The Department of Defense on Sunday identified the four Americans that were killed: Captain Brandon L. Cyr, 28, of Woodbridge, Va.; Capt. Reid K. Nishizuka, 30, of Kailua, Hawaii; Staff Sergeant Richard A. Dickson, 24, of Rancho Cordova, Calif.;  Staff Sergeant Daniel N. Fannin, 30, of Morehead, Ky.  

    The plane that crashed was an MC-12, a twin-engine turboprop aircraft used primarily for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

    Related:

  • US general: Afghan President Karzai is putting American lives at risk

    S. Sabawoon/EPA

    Afghan security officials inspect the scene of a suicide bomb attack outside the Afghan Defense Ministry Saturday. Hamid Karzai suggested the Taliban and U.S. colluded over the attack in order to persuade people that foreign forces had to stay in the country.

    By Jamieson Lesko and Ian Johnston, NBC News

    KABUL — The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan has warned that President Hamid Karzai is putting the lives of Western troops in danger with his anti-American rhetoric.

    A leaked, confidential memo sent by General Joseph Dunford to officers in Afghanistan said recent comments by Karzai could be "a catalyst for some to lash out against our forces."

    Dunford said Karzai’s "inflammatory speech" about the controversial Bagram Prison could prompt members of Afghan government forces to stage insider attacks on American troops and other Western allies.


    And he warned that the Afghan president himself "may also issue orders that put our forces at risk."

    The New York Times, which first reported the emailed memo, said it was sent Wednesday after Karzai warned on Tuesday that his forces might seize control of Bagram from the U.S.

    The facility was supposed to have been transferred on Saturday, but the deal collapsed at the last minute after Karzai objected to a clause allowing the U.S. to have final say over who were considered “high-value” prisoners and whether they would have to stay in prison.

    Dunford admitted that Afghanistan and the U.S. were "at a rough point in the relationship."

    And he warned that the Taliban and other insurgent groups would be "watching and will look for a way to exploit the situation — they have already ramped up for the spring."

    'Vigilance'
    Col. Thomas Collins, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, confirmed that Dunford’s memo was not intended for public consumption and had been leaked.

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Rahmat Gul / AP

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    He said the memo was an informal email sent "to his subordinate commanders to outline his view of what is going on in the country, in light of recent attacks."

    "ISAF routinely conducts assessments and adapts its protection posture to ensure our forces are prepared to meet potential threats and that they have a common understanding of the situation here in Afghanistan," Collins said in an email. "This advisory was prudent given increased Coalition casualties in recent days. General Dunford's email is simply an example of this vigilance."

    Two U.S. service members were killed and at least eight others injured on Monday in what officials described as a possible insider attack at a Special Forces operations outpost in Wardak province, eastern Afghanistan. Three Afghans also died.

    Last month, Karzai ordered all U.S. special forces to leave Wardak province. A spokesman for the Afghan president said in a statement that "armed individuals named as U.S. special forces stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people."

    On Sunday, Karzai accused the United States and the Taliban of colluding to convince Afghans that foreign forces needed to stay in the country after 2014, when NATO is due to withdraw most of its troops.

    U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel responds to Afghan President Hamid Karzai's statements in which Karzai accused the U.S. and Taliban with working together.

    "Those bombs that went off in Kabul and Khost [on Saturday] were not a show of force to America. They were in service of America. It was in the service of the 2014 slogan to warn us if they (Americans) are not here then Taliban will come," Karzai said in a speech reported by Reuters. "In fact those bombs, set off yesterday in the name of the Taliban, were in the service of Americans to keep foreigners longer in Afghanistan."

    The Taliban claimed responsibility for the two bomb attacks, which killed 17 people.

    Karzai’s comments marred a visit by newly appointed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s trip to Afghanistan.

    Hagel dismissed the remarks, telling reporters it “wouldn’t make a lot of sense” for the United States and Taliban to conspire together.

    And Dunford told reporters traveling with Hagel that "we have shed too much blood over the past 12 years … to ever think that violence or instability would be to our advantage."

    Reuters contributed to this report.

    Related:

    War of words erupts in Afghanistan over 2014 US troop pullout

    Karzai accuses U.S. and Taliban of conspiring to keep troops in Afghanistan

    Karzai, alleging torture, orders US forces out of key province

  • Final stretch? New US commander takes helm in Afghanistan

    Omar Sobhani / AP

    Gen. John Allen, left, the outgoing U.S. and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander in Afghanistan stand with Gen. Joseph Dunford who replaced him during a changing of command ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday.

    By Patrick Quinn, The Associated Press

    KABUL, Afghanistan - Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford took over Sunday as the new and probably last commander of all U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan. 

    The American-led NATO coalition is entering the final stretch of its participation in a war that will have lasted more than 13 years when most foreign combat troops pull out at the end of 2014. 

    Dunford took over leadership of the International Security Assistance Force, and a smaller but separate detachment of American troops, from Marine Gen. John Allen, who had led them for the past 19 months. 

    "Today is not about change, it's about continuity," Dunford told a gathering of coalition military leaders and Afghan officials. "What's not changed is the growing capability of our Afghan partners, the Afghan national security forces. What's not changed is our commitment, more importantly, what's not changed is the inevitability of our success." 

    He takes charge at a critical time for President Barack Obama and the military. NATO decided at its 2010 summit in Lisbon to withdraw major combat units, but to continue training and funding Afghan troops and leave a residual force to hunt down al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. 

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Aref Karimi / AFP - Getty Images

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said "much work lies ahead" for Dunford as he tries to meet those objectives while at the same time withdrawing about 100,000 foreign troops, including 66,000 from the United States. 

    Dunford, from Boston, Massachusetts, will face serious challenges as he tries to accommodate an accelerated timetable for handing over the lead for security responsibility to Afghan forces this spring — instead of late summer as originally planned. 

    "I told him our victory here will never be marked by a parade or a point in time on a calendar when victory is declared. This insurgency will be defeated over time by the legitimate and well-trained Afghan forces that are emerging today and who are taking the field in full force this spring," Allen said. 

    He added that success would be described as an "Afghan force defending Afghan people, and enabling an Afghan government to serve its citizens. This is victory; this is what winning looks like." Although the Afghan security forces are almost at their full strength of 352,000, it is unclear if they are yet ready to take on the fight by themselves. 

    Also attending the ceremony were U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, Commander, U.S. Central Command, and Gen. James Amos, head of the Marine Corps. President Hamid Karzai did not attend. 

    More work needed
    Before departing, Allen admitted that the Afghans still need much work to become an effective and self-sufficient fighting machine, but he said a vast improvement in their abilities was behind a decision to accelerate the timetable for putting them in the lead nationwide this spring when the traditional fighting season begins. 

    Obama said last month that the Afghans would take over this spring instead of late summer — a decision that could allow the speedier withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. 

    It is also unclear when the remaining 66,000 U.S. troops would return home, or how many American soldiers will remain after the end of 2014. 


    Obama may use his State of the Union address on Tuesday to announce the next steps for concluding the war and a timetable for withdrawal along with plans for a residual force post-2014. 

    Much of that depends on the U.S. negotiating a bilateral security agreement with the government that includes the contentious issue of immunity from Afghan prosecution for any U.S. forces that would remain here after 2014.  Karzai has said he will put any such decision in the hands of a council of Afghan elders, known as a Loya Jirga. 

    Although Dempsey said earlier in the week that the United States had plans to leave a residual force, a failure to strike a deal on immunity would torpedo any security agreement and lead to a complete pullout of U.S. forces after 2014 — as it did in post-war Iraq.

    It is widely believed that no NATO-member nation would allow its troops to remain after 2014 to train, or engage in counterterrorism activities, without a similar deal. 

    The head of NATO joint command in Europe, German Gen. Hans-Lothar Domrose, said the alliance was already making plans for a post-2014 presence, plans he said that were "all well advanced." 

    Related: 

    Two more Marines charged in scandal over Afghan urination video

    Afghanistan's Karzai on Prince Harry's bravado, Britain's involvement in war

    Ten Afghan police officers killed in suicide attack

    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • Afghan man in army uniform kills NATO soldier in Helmand

    By Reuters

    LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan - A man wearing an Afghan army uniform shot dead one soldier from the NATO-led force in Helmand in the country's south, where mostly British and U.S. troops are based, officials said on Tuesday.

    At least 63 NATO-led personnel were killed in 47 insider attacks across Afghanistan last year, far more than previous years, eroding trust between Afghan soldiers and their foreign counterparts as the coalition plans to withdraw most of its troops by the end of 2014.


    In the latest attack, in Helmand's Gereshk district on Monday evening, a British soldier was killed and six more British soldiers wounded, police officials in Helmand told Reuters. 

    NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed in a statement that one of its personnel was killed by a man in an Afghan National Army uniform, but did not disclose the soldier's nationality.

    More world stories from NBC News:

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  • Kidnapped American rescued from Taliban, coalition says

    By NBC News staff and wire services

    KABUL, Afghanistan -- An American citizen abducted by the Taliban five days ago was rescued Sunday in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led military coalition said.


    Dr. Dilip Joseph was captured by Taliban insurgents Wednesday outside the Afghan capital, in the Sarobi district of Kabul province, a statement by the coalition said.

    He was rescued in an early morning operation ordered after intelligence showed that the doctor was in imminent danger of injury or possible death, according to a statement.

    A non-profit organization called Morning Star Development said in a statement that Joseph worked as its medical adviser and is from Colorado Springs.

    Morning Star said Joseph and two other staff members had been returning from a visit to one of its rural medical clinics when the kidnappers stopped their vehicle. The three were then taken to a mountainous area about 50 miles from the Pakistan border, Morning Star said. 

    The two other workers were released about 11 hours before Joseph's rescue, Morning Star said. Joseph was taken to Bagram Airfield north of Kabul after his rescue and appeared to be unhurt, the statement said. 

    On its website, Morning Star describes itself as a non-profit dedicated to community development in Afghanistan. 

    Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said American and Afghan forces planned, rehearsed and successfully conducted the operation.

    "Thanks to them, Dr. Joseph will soon be rejoining his family and loved ones," Allen said.

    Details of the rescue operation were not released.

     

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

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  • Defense official fires back, denies Afghanistan commander exchanged 'inappropriate' emails

    Officials say that thousands of emails between General John Allen and Florida socialite Jill Kelley are flirtatious, but the general denies a relationship. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.


    By NBC News staff

    Updated 4 p.m. ET: Allegedly “inappropriate” emails between U.S. Gen. John Allen and the woman who sparked the investigation into CIA Director David Petraeus do not signify the two had an affair, a defense official told NBC News on Tuesday.

    “There was no affair,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.  The emails in question could be misconstrued, the official said, predicting that the investigation will prove Allen’s innocence.

    Allen, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, is under investigation over allegations that he exchanged “inappropriate” emails with Jill Kelley, a senior defense official told reporters earlier Tuesday.

    A difference of opinion appeared to be brewing at the Pentagon about how to characterize the emails, with another official calling them flirtatious.

    Kelley, a Tampa, Fla., woman who has acted as a volunteer “social liaison” with military officials at MacDill Air Force Base,  inadvertently launched the investigation that led to Petraeus’ resignation by complaining to the FBI about anonymous emails she received.  FBI agents traced the allegedly threatening emails to Paula Broadwell, Petraeus' biographer. 

    Emails on 'coming and goings' of Petraeus, other military officials escalated FBI concerns

    During the investigation, agents discovered emails between Petraeus and Broadwell that were indicative of an extramarital affair between them, according to government and law enforcement officials.

    Petraeus, who was appointed 14 months ago to head the Central Intelligence Agency, announced his resignation on Friday, citing an extramarital affair.

    Word of the investigation into Gen. Allen’s involvement came early Tuesday, when U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issued a statement during a flight to Australia for a meeting with defense officials there, saying that  the FBI had referred “a matter involving" Allen to the Department of Defense's Inspector General.

    Those who know the two women at the center of General David Petraeus' affair scandal are speaking out. Jill Kelley's brother says she is "dedicated" to her husband, while Paula Broadwell's friend calls her "a pretty great person." NBC's Kristen Welker reports.

    “Today, the secretary directed that the matter be referred to the Inspector General of the Department of Defense for investigation, and it is now in the hands of the Inspector General,” Panetta said.

    Panetta’s statement did not include specifics, but a senior defense official traveling with him told reporters that Allen “was under investigation for “inappropriate communications” with Kelley.

    The official also said the investigation involved some 20,000 to 30,000 pages of material, mostly emails, which were sent from 2010 to 2012, adding that Allen “disputes that he has engaged in any wrongdoing in this matter.”

    Later in the day, however, a defense official at the Pentagon told NBC News that the number of emails between Allen and Kelley was inflated.

     

    The FBI eventually discovered that the emails received by Jill Kelley, a close friend of the Petraeus family, were sent by Paula Broadwell. And as they dug deeper, the affair between Broadwell and Petraeus came to light. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

    "That is a mischaracterization," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The communications with General Allen were lumped in with a lot of other email traffic."

    The official said that the Allens and Kelleys were "family friends," and the emails were written in that manner. Many of the emails were not personal communications between the general and Jill Kelley, the official added, but included Allen's wife. And many were between Allen's wife and Jill Kelley, with General Allen just copied, the official said.

    "What we're dealing with is the possible perception of inappropriateness," the official said, but it will become clear that there was no wrongdoing. "This is not at the level of the director of the CIA."

    According to a senior U.S. military official, Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson read "a number" of the emails between Allen and Kelley before he advised Panetta to refer the matter to the Inspector General.

    "Leon Panetta didn't make this decision lightly," the official said late Tuesday. The emails were more than just calling one another "sweetheart," characterizing them as flirtatious, the official said.

    While the emails may not prove an affair or even be inappropriate, they were unprofessional, the official said.

    Allen will meet with investigators over the next few days, but then he is expected to head back to Afghanistan to continue in his role as Commander of ISAF, according to the official.

    Panetta’s statement said that Allen would remain commander of ISAF during the investigation and that he was “entitled to due process in this matter.”

    But Allen’s nomination to take over as head of U.S. forces in Europe and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, was put on hold “until the relevant facts are determined,” Panetta said.

    Slideshow: Petraeus case: Cast of characters

    ISAF via Reuters file

    Meet the people who have been pulled into the scandal that caused Gen. David Petraeus to resign.

    Launch slideshow

    Allen was in Washington, D.C., preparing for his Senate confirmation hearings which were originally scheduled for Thursday, NBC News reported.

    Allen had no advance warning about the investigation, a close aide of Allen’s told NBC News. He was alerted to the probe by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey Monday night ET. Allen had a number of meetings scheduled for Tuesday on Capitol Hill, although the aide was unsure if they would take place.

    Allen’s connection to the Petraeus investigation also seems to have caught the Defense Department off guard.

    “This came as very surprising news, to say the least. No one in the Pentagon is leaping to conclusions just yet,” a senior defense official traveling with Panetta told NBC News.  “It's important to review the materials to determine the facts, and it's too early speculate about where this will lead.  In the meantime, Gen. Allen needs to focus on the war effort, which he's successfully led since last year.”

    The ISAF was also unaware of the investigation until late Monday or early Tuesday, and it declined to comment, in a written statement, referring all questions to the Defense Department.

    Allen, a highly decorated officer, took over as ISAF commander in July 2011, and was nominated on Oct. 10 to take over as NATO commander, the same time that his successor at the ISAF was named as Gen. Joseph Dunford.

    The confirmation of Dunford, currently assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, is now expected to be fast tracked.

    “The secretary has respectfully requested that the Senate act promptly on that nomination," Panetta’s statement said.

    NBC News' Courtney Kube, Jeff Black, Ian Johnston and Rachel Elbaum contributed to this report.

     

    Some members of Congress are saying that they or, at the least President Obama, should have been told about the investigation into the director of the CIA while it was going on. NBC's Pete Williams reports.

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  • Four US soldiers killed in Afghan 'insider' attack

    Four U.S. troops fighting with the NATO-led alliance were killed in another suspected "insider" attack in southern Afghanistan.  NBC's Atia Abawi reports.

    By NBC News staff and wire services

    Updated at 12:05 p.m. ET: Four U.S. soldiers fighting with the NATO-led alliance were killed in an apparent insider shooting in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, the Pentagon confirmed.

    A Pentagon spokesman did not have further details, including which branch of services the Americans belonged to, Reuters reported.

    The shooting took place in Zabol, a southern province where U.S. forces are based, and came a day after two British soldiers were shot dead by an Afghan policeman while returning from a patrol in southern Helmand province — a stronghold of the Taliban-led insurgency. 

    Local authorities also told NBC News that the four killed were Americans.

    An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) statement described the incident as "an insider attack suspected to involve members of the Afghan police."

    What's leading Afghan troops to turn on coalition forces?

    One attacker who was wearing an Afghan National Police uniform (ANP) was also killed in the fighting, a source told Reuters.

    At least 51 foreign military personnel have been killed in "insider" attacks this year, attacks which have put a heavy strain on trust between the coalition and Afghanistan as they move towards handing security responsibility to Afghan forces by the end of 2014. 

    Related:

    The rise in such attacks has led to the training of new recruits to the Afghan army and police being suspended. 

    The Taliban indicates that deadly attacks on U.S. personnel in Afghanistan were in response to an anti-Islam video. NBC's Atia Abawi reports.

    With foreign combat troops withdrawing from the increasingly unpopular and expensive war, the enormous cultural divide that still separates Afghans and their allies after 11 years of conflict has become more of a concern than ever. 

    The NATO-led coalition and its Afghan counterparts have created a special Joint Casualties Assessment Team to investigate every attack, which number at least 37 this year. 

    In more than half of cases, attackers are either killed or escape and the motive never emerges, making it more difficult for the coalition to stem the surge.

    Adding to the toll of coalition deaths caused by insider attacks over the weekend, two were killed and nine wounded in Friday's attack on Camp Bastion, one of the worst attacks on a NATO-operated base all year. 

    Six Harrier jets were destroyed and two were significantly damaged in the raid on the camp airfield, carried out by 15 insurgents wearing U.S. Army uniforms and split between three teams, a NATO statement said on Sunday.

    U.S. suspends training for some Afghan recruits after 'insider' attacks

    Three refueling stations were destroyed and six aircraft hangars were damaged. Britain's Prince Harry was at Camp Bastion at the time of Friday's attack, but was unharmed. 

    US forces based at Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan take part in a memorial service marking the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    All but one of the attackers were killed, with the remaining fighter taken into custody by coalition forces. 

    ISAF said the attack was "well-coordinated". A statement said: "The insurgents, organized into three teams, penetrated at one point of the perimeter fence. The insurgents appeared to be well equipped, trained and rehearsed. Dressed in U.S. Army uniforms and armed with automatic rifles, rocket propelled grenade launchers and suicide vests, the insurgents attacked coalition fixed and rotary wing aircraft parked on the flight line, aircraft hangars and other buildings."

    With foreign combat troops withdrawing from the  unpopular and expensive war by the end of 2014, the enormous cultural divide that still separates Afghans and their allies after 11 years of war has become more of a concern than ever.

    The NATO-led coalition and its Afghan counterparts have created a special Joint Casualties Assessment Team to investigate every attack.

    In more than half of the cases, attackers are either killed or escape and the motive for the incident never emerges, making it more difficult for the coalition to stem the surge in incidents.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Taliban claims about cop defections 'baseless,' Afghan official says

    By Mushtaq Yusufzai, NBC News

    Updated at 9:16 a.m. ET on Wednesday: The Taliban claimed Tuesday that 18 members of Afghanistan's border police force and local militia had deserted their respective services and joined the "Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" in Nangarhar, a province close to Pakistan.

    "After holding a few meetings with local elders...all the 18 policemen and personnel of the local militia agreed and came to us at Surkh Rodh area of Nangarhar province," claimed Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

    Hundreds of Afghan soldiers detained, fired over 'links with insurgents'

    He said all the policemen joined the insurgent movement early on Tuesday.

    There is no way to verify Taliban claims independently, but the organization supplied a list of the names of the 18 who had allegedly defected.

    What's leading Afghan troops to turn on coalition forces?

    Taliban insurgents regularly issue claims of responsibility for attacks and other incidents that are later proved to be false.

    In a statement sent to NBC News early on Wednesday, Afghanistan's Ministry of the Interior said the Taliban's claims about the police defections were "baseless and untrue."

    A man in an Afghan police uniform shot and killed two US special forces members in the western Farah Province of Afghanistan. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.

     

    However, Mujahid said they had persuaded local elders and parents to convince their sons who were working in the new Afghan security services to stop supporting the "occupying" forces in Afghanistan.

    Afghan Taliban income: $400 million last year, UN estimates

    Many Afghans say the Taliban often threaten family members and relatives of those serving in the Afghan army or police, putting them under pressure to quit.

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