According to reports, the Afghanistan war claimed its highest ranking American military official during an outbreak of gun violence at a military academy Tuesday morning.
ABC News indicates that a training exercise at Camp Qargha was interrupted when a man dressed in an Afghan military uniform opened fire. He injured 15 people in the shooting and killed one – a two star major general who has not been identified as of this writing.
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Though the gunman was dressed as a soldier, a military source reportedly told reporters he likely just acquired the uniform in order to access the training officers. Nevertheless, attacks on U.S. troops by Afghan soldiers are nothing new. ABC reports there have been at least 85 documented cases of what is referred to as green-on-blue attacks throughout the war.
Approximately half of those injured are believed to be Americans, ABC reports, with the others made up of Afghanis and Germans.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement immediately after the incident condemning the person responsible for the violent attack.
“The soldiers were visiting the military academy to help with the buildup of Afghan security forces,” he explained, noting that the shooting was caused by “enemies who don’t want to see Afghanistan have strong institutions.”
Though early reports indicate the shooter might not have actually been an Afghan soldier, officials assert the incident remains under investigation.
The International Security Assistance Force Joint Command explained that investigators are “in the process of assessing the situation,” adding additional details “will be released as we sort out the facts.”