American Two Star General Dies in Attack on NATO Troops

An Afghan man the Kabul government described as a terrorist in uniform shot a US Army major general dead and wounded up to 15 other NATO troops Tuesday,Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said.The gunman was wearing military clothing and fired on the allied troops with a light machine gun at the Marshal Fahim National Defense University in Kabul,Afghanistan,where Afghan commissioned and non-commissioned officers are trained at the British-led academy.The NATO soldiers were on a routine site visit,RADM Kirby told reporters.*
Believed to be among the wounded are a German general and at least seven Americans and five British troops.Some of them were seriously wounded;others received only minor injuries.
The general who was killed has been identified as General Harold J. Greene,deputy commanding general of the Combined Security Transition Command.A 34-year veteran,he is the highest ranking US soldier to have been killed in either the the Iraq or Afghan War,which began in 2001 following the 9-11 attacks.*
The so-called green on blue attack is the latest of a long series of similar incidents,many of them attributed to disgruntled Afghan National Security Forces personnel.*
Army Lieutenant General Timothy J. Maude died in the 9-11 attack on the Pentagon.*
General Joseph F. Dunford,Jr.,US Marine Corps,Commander of ISAF forces in Afghanistan,briefed Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on the incident this morning.The attack will be jointly investigated by ISAF and Afghan personnel.ISAF consists of NATO troops and those of partner nations.
Most US and allied forces are to be withdrawn by the end of 2014,but plans to leave a limited number of trainers and special operations troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 are on hold until the disputed Afghan presidential election is resolved.An audit of the election finally began on Sunday even as squabbling between the parties continued,with one candidate's supporters boycotting the audit.