Two Green Berets Killed in Afghanistan Battle Identified

Two members of the US Army Special Forces (Green Berets) died in a firefight in Sherzad District of Nangarhar Province in Eastern Afghanistan on 8 February 2020,the US Army said.The battle began when a person in an Afghan uniform opened fire on US and Afghan forces with a machine gun.Six other US troops were injured;while the Afghan Defence Ministry said one Afghan National Army Soldier was also killed and three others wounded in the battle.It isn't known whether the assailant,who was killed,was a member of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces or an infiltrator;the investigation continues.*
Those killed in action were SFC Javier J. Gutierrez,28,of San Antonio,Texas and SFC Antonio Rodriguez,28,of Las Cruces,New Mexico.The loss of the Green Berets brings the total combat deaths of US service members in Afghanistan in 2020 up to four.No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.It started as a key-leader engagement was dispersing.*
Both US troops were members of 3rd Battalion,7th Special Forces Group (Airborne),out of Eglin Air Force Base,Florida.They were posthumously promoted from Staff Sergeant and awarded the Purple Heart Medal.
SFC Gutierrez had previously served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Army Achievement Medal.SFC Rodriguez had earned his Ranger tab and served with 3rd Battalion,75th Ranger Regiment before re-classifying as a Cryptologic Linguist (Spanish) with the Special Forces.He had completed a total of ten deployments to Afghanistan,eight of them with the Ranger Regiment and two as a Green Beret.His awards included the Bronze Star Medal;Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and the Army Achievement Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster.*
Let them be confounded and confused that are adversaries to my soul;let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt.
But I will hope continually,and will yet praise thee more and more.
-Psalm 71:13-14

Afghan War:NATO Service Member Killed in Herat

A non-US NATO service member has been killed in Herat Province,Western Afghanistan on 22 October 2018.The person was serving in the Resolute Support Mission's Train,Advise and Assist Command-West (TAAC-West).Two other troops were wounded.No nationalities or identities were available.TAAC-West is led by Italian personnel.Also serving in TAAC-West are troops from Albania,Lithuania,Slovenia,Ukraine and the US.TAAC-West is helping the Afghan National Army's 207th Corps and the 606th Afghan National Police Zone.*
The incident was reportedly a green on blue attack,or someone disguised as an Afghan National Defence and Security Forces member attacking a Coalition service member.A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack,saying one of their "infiltrators" was the assailant.The flare-up was the second green on blue attack in less than a week.On 18 October,the Taliban militants claimed responsibility for an attack following a security review session in Kandahar Province,Southern Afghanistan,in which two Afghan leaders were killed and two Americans were wounded.The Afghans lost were the highly admired Kandahar Province police chief GEN Abdul Raziq,and a senior Afghan intelligence officer.Those wounded in the firefight included a US general officer,BGEN Jeffrey D. Smiley,US Army,commander of TAAC-South,and a US contractor.The Taliban Islamist extremists said they had hoped to kill the new commander of US Forces Afghanistan and NATO's Resolute Support Mission,GEN Austin Scott Miller,US Army,who took command on 2 September 2018,but he escaped unscathed.
GEN Miller has a Special Operations Forces background,having recently served as commander,Joint Special Operations Command.He is a veteran of the Battle of Mogadishu,Somalia;the Iraq War;and the Afghan War.Among his decorations are the Bronze Star Medal,the Purple Heart Medal and the Legion of Merit.

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.