A man wearing an Afghan Army uniform shot five U.S. soldiers on Tuesday and is still at large today, according to the Associated Press. The shooting took place outside a NATO base in Wardak province, Afghanistan.
A witness told the Associated Press:
“The Americans were standing on the other side of us while we were standing with a translator. Suddenly, the Afghan soldier aimed his machine gun on them and started shooting."
A Pentagon spokesman says the five wounded soldiers are being treated at an unnamed medical facility.
This is just the latest incident in a rising number "green on blue" attacks in Afghanistan. The Stars and Stripes reports Afghans have killed as many as 80 NATO ISAF troops with whom they'd been working as allies, with half of the attacks taking place since May 2009.
ISAF spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Brian Badura tells the Stars and Stripes efforts are being made to reduce green on blue violence:
“First and foremost, ISAF is getting together with our Afghan National Security Partners on the vetting and process they use...
"What we’re trying to do is make sure that any of the mitigation does not damage the trust we’ve built between the (Afghan National Security Forces) and coalition units.”
