US general Harold Greene killed in 'insider attack' by Afghan soldier

US officials has confirmed that Maj Gen Greene was killed by an Afghan soldier near Kabul.

13:06 06 August 2014

Maj Gen Harold Green has been confirmed to have been killed in an attack by an Afghan soldier. He is the highest ranking US military to die in combat since the Vietnam War.

At least 15 other soldiers, including two British and generals from Germany and Afghanistan were wounded in the ‘insider attack’.

Rear Admiral John Kirby told the press: "The insider threat is a pernicious threat"

Gen Greene is directly involved in preparations for the withdrawal of the coalition troops at the end of the year. At the end of 2014, the majority of the troops will go back to their country with less than 10,000 American troops earmarked to stay until the end of 2016.

Based on the report, the incident took place around lunchtime after an argument between Afghans and an armed Afghan solider began. The latter opened fire from a guard post at a large group of senior Afghan and international troops. By the time he had run out of bullets, more than a dozen people had been shot. He was later shot dead.

Among those who were wounded was the Afghan commander of the British-led officers’ academy, Gen Gulam Sakhi.