Contractor accused of negligence in shooting deaths of U.S. troops
Family members have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court nearly 18 months after an Afghan linguist with a reportedly troubled past shot and killed two American soldiers and wounded a third, according to The Associated Press.
The suit accuses Mission Essential Personnel - the Ohio-based contractor - of negligence and breach of contract for failing to properly screen the shooter's background. The shooter was Ahmad Ahamdi, 23, the AP reports.
U.S. and NATO forces have been dealing with an increase in the number of attacks on coalition forces by seemingly 'friendly forces,' including coalition-trained soldiers, police officers .
Training effective Afghan security forces is central to the NATO strategy that is supposed to clear the way for a withdrawal of all western troops from Afghanistan by 2014.
But the effort has been marred by an increasing number of incidents in which Afghan soldiers, police and security guards have turned their weapons on NATO troops.
There have been at least 15 such attacks since March 2009, killing 46 NATO personnel and an untold number of other attacks in which the victims survived.
Top NATO officials have told Stars and Stripes that the incidents are isolated, and officials point to new efforts to screen Afghan recruits and identify those with Taliban ties or psychological issues.
A recent Stars and Stripes investigation into a case of an Afghan police officer called "Crazy Joe," revealed that Afghan officials had ample warning that he was a danger to American soldiers. They simply didn’t do anything about it.
The Associated Press provides in-depth coverage of the federal lawsuit filed against the contractor in deaths of U.S. troops.
