Special Forces Team ambushed by rogue Afghan Police Officer - Two KIA, 6 Wounded

Two U.S. troops were killed and six were wounded in an apparent insider attack in Afghanistan according to military officials. Sgt. 1st Class Javier Jaguar Gutierrez, the senior communications sergeant (18E) on the ODA, and Sgt. 1st Class Antonio Rey Rodriguez, a SOT-A soldier. The soldiers were involved in a firefight on Feb. 8 in Sherzad district, Nangarhar province.

SFC Gutierrez, 28, of San Antonio, Texas, leaves behind a wife and four children, ages 4 to 7. SFC Rodriguez, was born and raised in Las Cruces, NM and was deployed 8 times with the 75th Infantry Regiment before his two deployments with 3/7th SFG.

Greens Berets of Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 7313 and the company command team of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (A/3/7) had just finished a Key Leader Engagement (KLE) with local leaders when they were ambushed. The American element, which was accompanied by a partner force of Afghan Special Operations Forces (ANSOF) had moved to a nearby field to wait for extraction by helicopter. While they were in a Pickup Zone (PZ) posture, the rogue Afghan policeman attacked. The individual essentially mowed down the Special Forces operators and their partner force element with a heavy machinegun.

A Green Beret and a Special Operations Team-Alpha (SOT-A) soldier, who was attached to the team, were killed on the spot. The company executive officer was shot in the chest and is in critical condition; the company Sergeant Major was shot in the head. The rest of the American WIAs have gunshot wounds to the legs. All casualties have been evacuated to U.S. medical facilities. SOT-A soldiers are attached to Special Forces ODAs and provide tactical Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities.

“Upon completing a key-leader engagement at the district center, current reports indicate an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined U.S. and Afghan force with a machine gun,” Army Col. Sonny Leggett, spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, said in an emailed statement. “We are still collecting information and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time. The incident is under investigation,” he said.

The Green-on-Blue (friendly forces attacking U.S. troops) incident took place in the Sherzad district of Nangarhar Province, which is located in eastern Afghanistan.

The Associated Press reported that a member of Nagarhar’s provincial council said that the gunman was killed, but neither the U.S. military nor the Afghan defense ministry has confirmed to the AP the attacker’s fate. Colonel Sonny Leggett, the spokesperson for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) said that “an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined U.S. and Afghan force with a machine gun. The motive behind the attack is unknown at this time. The incident is under investigation.”

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