Afghan Special Forces Soldier Shoots US Mentor

A member of Afghanistan's elite special forces—a group that is supposed to be rigorously vetted—shot and killed an American mentor and his translator at a US military base Wednesday, before being gunned down in turn by US soldiers, Reuters reports. Another Afghan special forces soldier was killed in the crossfire as well. The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting, but according to one Afghan general it took place "after a verbal conflict."

Officials yesterday and today revealed two other other so-called "green on blue" attacks that occurred this week, including a full-blown skirmish between Afghan National Police and NATO soldiers near Kandahar City that left two police dead and two NATO soldiers wounded, the New York Times reports. These killings have been on the rise, but NATO says that's because the Afghan military is growing. "Not as many as you would expect show any evidence of insurgent initiation," one officer added. "Quite often, people resolve their personal problems" with violence. "It's more of a cultural thing here." (More Afghanistan stories.)