World | Afghanistan Afghan Shooter Wore an Army Uniform 2 Americans dead, 6 wounded in attack By Neal Colgrass Posted Feb 9, 2020 12:30 PM CST Copied In this Aug. 19, 2019, file photo, a man waves an Afghan flag during Independence Day celebrations in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File) Two US service members—both Special Forces—are dead and six service members are wounded after an attack in Afghanistan on Saturday, CNN reports. An Afghan soldier was also killed and three wounded in the surprise gunfight. It began after someone in an Afghan uniform opened fire at the Sherzad district center in eastern Afghanistan, where US and Afghan troops had been building relationships with Afghan officials. "Current reports indicate an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined US and Afghan force with a machine gun," says Colonel Sonny Leggett, per Reuters. "We are still collecting information and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time." A provincial governor says the assailant might have been an infiltrator or even someone who opened fire by mistake. "It was not a clash between forces," he tells Al Jazeera. "We are investigating." The Taliban has said nothing, but a record number of attacks were conducted in Afghanistan last year by the Taliban and other insurgent groups, including an infiltrator attack that killed nine Afghan soldiers at an Afghan base in December. In all, nearly 2,400 US troops have died in combat in Afghanistan. Names of the two US service members killed Saturday are being withheld until after next of kin are notified. It comes as Washington continues negotiating with the Taliban in an effort to pull out troops and end the longest military conflict in US history. Read These Next A look at President Trump's fast pivot on Minneapolis. Treasury drops Booz Allen over Trump tax return leak. Minnesota judge makes an unusual move against the ICE chief. Sydney Sweeney is at the center of a controversy yet again. Report an error