This just came to my inbox from USFOR-A, the new consolidated U.S. military command in Afghanistan:

One U.S. servicemember was killed today when an Afghan National policeman attacked a dismounted patrol in Bermel District, Paktika province.

The ANP member opened fire from a tower and threw a hand grenade toward the troops who were returning to a forward operating base.

The remaining servicemembers returned fire on the tower, killing the ANP member.
The name of the U.S. servicemember is being withheld until next of kin is notified.

Remember what I wrote earlier about corruption in the Afghan police? Something that nearly everyone told me in Afghanistan was that the insurgency wasn’t really infiltrating the security services. I wonder if that still largely holds true and this guy had his own “reasons” for murdering one of our troops — or whether the insurgents really are changing their strategy.

Crossposted to al-Streak.