Afghan police officer attacks US troops

What follows is a first-hand account of an incident that occurred on Sunday sept. 28th, 2008 somewhere outside of Kabul, Afghanistan. This is told by a soldier who was there through the whole thing. Out of respect for his and the other soldiers’ families I have edited out the names mentioned. This is the only editing I have done, everything below are his exact words. The attached .jpg is the St More..ars and Stripes article of the same incident.

“Sunday was a bad day for us troopers. Started off with a bad IED in the morning. The MP's hit it only 1k away from our mortar position. After the detonation enemy forces opened up on them with RPG's and small arms. We helplessly watched the entire event from our mortar pit. Ripped the truck to pieces, but no serious injuries thank god. We ended up finding 7 suspects in a wood line nearby shortly after the attack. They tested positive for fresh explosive residue as well as gun powder, so the scouts detained them. On the way back to base they noticed a suspicious vehicle headed their way, so they stopped to check it out. They set up security in the town with the help of the Afghan Police, and developed a plan to go search the suspected vehicle. They were literally 200 meters away from the front gate of our base. We (the mortar platoon) were watching everything, and had radio coms with them as we over watched their position.

After sitting there for about 30 min, an Afghan police officer turned on the lead vehicle and proceeded to open up with heavy machine gun fire on our dismounted soldiers. He sprayed about 150 rounds as our guys returned fire, striking him numerous times. He wouldn't go down (again demonstrating just how "effective" our NATO 5.56 rounds are). They finally took him down with a mix of small arms fire and a few grenades, but only after he was able to mortally wound one of our guys and seriously injure another. SGT _______ was struck with one stray round (from the "Afghan police officer") in his under arm killing him instantly. Another soldier, SGT _____ was struck with rounds to the upper thigh. 3 of the detainees managed to escape and one was seriously wounded in the incident.

It was the worst day I've had in a very long time. To top it off, later that night enemy forces attempted to over run the base, hitting us with lots of indirect and small arms fires. I returned fire with our 60mm and 120mm (I was in charge, Mr ______ had to escort the dead bodies from earlier that day to Bahgram AFB) mortars. One of my friends killed 7 enemy personnel with his M-14. I'm not sure if I got anyone, but we were sure laying down the heat. Unfortunately, during the initial Indirect attack one of our guard towers was directly struck with a 107mm rocket, killing the Afghan security guard instantly and throwing his US counterpart from the tower. We found him, SPC _____, soaked in blood crawling on his hands and knees trying to find the Aid Station. He had crawled aprox. 100 meters. *Note* the Aid Station was 300 meters away, 3 FOOTBALL FIELDS from the tower he was thrown from!!** SPC _____ sustained many shrapnel wounds to his body and partial amputations to his fingers, but hes going to make it. Let me also say that SPC _____ was not a combat arms soldier, he was a supply clerk. He is now one of the most hard core soldiers that I know.

All in all, I'd say the enemy got us this time. 3 casualties, 1 dead to their 7. Still cant believe it all happened. Since then, we have gotten re-enforcements to help out just in case they try it again. ____ is here. Helping me out with mortar stuff. So that helps alot. I think I'm just ready to come home. I will attach an article of the incident I found earlier today. Its not completely accurate, but it shows how things can be skewed so easily. The incident is EVERYWHERE in the news right now, but I just wanted to clear things up a bit, I feel compelled to. Afghan security forces, the same freakin people we are here to help and train, turned on US forces. The Afghan government isn’t really taking much responsibility for the ordeal. Their take on it is "shit happens". SGT _____ is survived by his wife and two beautiful girls. He was a good friend of mine, and will be surely missed.

I just want to say that I love you all. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. I'll be home soon. All my love and hugs...

-Your Baby Boy”

***Note***
The attached pic is the Stars and Stripes article of the same incident, for those who want source/proof.