The United States will stay the course in Afghanistan despite two more killings of American troops Thursday by rogue Afghan security forces, Pentagon press secretary George Little said.
“We are staying the course in Afghanistan. We have confidence in our ability to work closely with the [Afghan National Security Force],” Mr. Little said, adding that U.S. leaders are working closely with their Afghan partners to stem such incidents.
The International Security Assistance Force announced early Thursday that two U.S. soldiers were killed, bringing to six the total of ISAF personnel killed in the past two weeks.
These attacks could jeopardize the current strategy, which is to train Afghan forces to take over security by next year as U.S. and coalition forces withdraw.
“This is a war zone. There’s no such thing as zero risk, but our strategy in working closely with the ANSF is not changing,” Mr. Little said.
Mr. Little said there were possibly three attackers — two members of the Afghan National Security Force and one civilian. The two Afghan security force members were killed, he said.
Details were not yet available about the civilian, who possibly was an Afghan instructor.
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Kristina Wong is a national security reporter for The Washington Times, covering defense, foreign policy and intelligence affairs. She can be reached at kwong@washingtontimes.com.
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