5 October 2013: FOB Apache Case Study
On the morning of 5 October 2013, a US Army Soldier A was conducting maintenance on a trailer on the north
side of FOB Apache. Soldier A’s location was directly in between two rings of guard towers. Two outer guard
towers (Guard Tower 4 and Guard Tower 5) were manned by Afghan employees of Olive Group, a security
contractor providing security to FOB Apache. The inner guard tower was manned by Soldiers from the
Romanian Armed Forces. Their mission was to provide overwatch of the two towers as well as general base
defense operations. US Soldier A was performing maintenance in between and behind Guard Tower 4 and
Guard Tower 5 and in front of the guard tower manned by the Romanians. Guard Tower 5 was manned by two
Afghans: the shooter, Khan, and his partner, Kanon Jan Mohammad. The guard tower contained two AK-47
rifles and one PKM machine gun.
Shortly before 10:50, it is believed that Khan's partner Kanon left his position to use a latrine leaving his
weapon behind. This is according to procedure under which Afghan guards in these watch towers are not
permitted to leave the tower with a weapon.
When Kanon left the guard tower, Khan was alone in the guard tower with three weapons. Shortly afterwards,
Khan left his position in the guard tower and took with him the two AK-47s. He climbed out of the guard tower
and began walking east along the guard tower line. He was wearing his issued body armor and helmet. He
soon came upon US Solider A conducting maintenance on a vehicle. US Solider A was armed but did not have
his weapon on his person. He was alone at the time.
Surveillance footage shows Khan appearing to walk past US Soldier A and out of the frame at
10:50:31 according to the camera's time stamp. Khan then appears to turn back and approach US Solider A. As
Khan approaches him, US Soldier A is still conducting maintenance on the trailer with his back turned to the
assailant. At 10:50:45, it appears that US Solider A turned around and looked at Khan. At this point, US Soldier
A is visible at the bottom of the screen while Khan is standing outside the view of the camera. At 10:50:48, the
first shots fired hit US Soldier A and he goes down immediately. Khan continues to fire at US Soldier A and dust
and dirt kicked up by the rounds ricocheting off the ground is visible at 10:50:53. Khan then dropped one of
the two AK-47 rifles he was carrying and continued moving eastward along the guard tower line.
As this was happening, the Romanian Force Protection Soldier in the inner guard tower heard gunfire and saw
dirt and dust kick up in front of him. However, he did not have a clear line of sight and did not see either US
Soldier A or Khan. The Romanian Soldier initially believed he was hearing gunfire from a shooting range.
However, he remained vigilant and continued to monitor his sectors. Moments later, Khan walked across his
line of sight and continued walking east along the guard tower line. The Romanian Soldier saw Khan carrying
an AK-47. He then saw a vehicle approaching Khan from the opposite direction. The vehicle contained three
U.S. Army Soldiers, US Soldier B, US Soldier C, and US Soldier D. This group was in the area inventorying a CON
EX.
While in the vehicle, they saw Khan approaching them at a brisk pace. US Soldier B immediately
became suspicious because Afghan guards are not allowed to leave their guard tower with a
weapon. He ordered his fellow soldiers to chamber a round. US Soldier B then exited the vehicle
and ordered Khan to drop his weapon and come towards him. Khan continued to walk toward US Soldier B 's
group while being monitored by Romanian Soldier, who was armed with a Dragunov Sniper Rifle.
Khan continued to approach US Soldier B 's group. He then raised his AK-47 and attempted to fire. However,
his weapon jammed before he was able to fire a single round. CPT Turner, US Soldier B and US Soldier C
engaged Khan with their M9 pistols as Khan fixed his weapons malfunction and fired at the group. It is
believed that one or more of the U.S. Soldiers shots fired hit Khan. He was eventually shot several times in the
legs and in his body armor. It appears that one of Khan's AK-47 rounds grazed US Soldier B in the left leg,
causing minor injuries.
Khan then disengaged from the group and began moving in a northern direction. US Soldier B, US Soldier C and
US Soldier D took cover behind some barricades in order to consolidate and reorganize. US Soldier C
redistributed the remaining ammunition among the three Soldiers.
At some point during this firefight, the Romanian Soldier, who observed Khan raise his AK-47 and engage US
Soldier B’s group, fired the first of two rounds from his Dragunov Sniper Rifle. The first round missed. As Khan
was moving north, the sound of gunfire attracted the attention of other U.S. Soldiers. One Soldier, US Soldier
D, engaged Khan with his M4 rifle. At about the same time, the Romanian Soldier fired a second round from
his sniper rifle hitting Khan in the mid torso. This shot, as well as bullets fired by US Soldier D likely brought
him down and killed him.
After he was brought down, US Soldier B, US Soldier C, US Soldier D, and US Soldier E, another soldier in the
area who was providing security to US Soldier D while he engaged Khan, began to secure the area. They
approached Khan's body to determine if he was wearing a suicide vest and to disarm him.
It is believed that Khan intended to engage a large group of coalition personnel based on his direction of travel
and the fact that he was initially armed with two weapons. Soldiers in the area as well as the QRF began to
secure the base. The unit began to clear the FOB by sector. While doing so, they found US Soldier A's body. A
medic, US Soldier F, checked for vital signs and found none. He began to administer CPR but was unsuccessful
in resuscitating US Soldier A. US Soldier F indicated that he found US Soldier A on his back with multiple
gunshot wounds. Kanon, the other guard in Tower 5 who had by now returned to his post, was ordered out of
the guard tower and detained. Two other Afghans, who occupied Guard Tower 4 and had a clear line of sight of
the attack were also ordered out and detained.
Although premeditated in nature, the 5 October 2013 insider attack was likely opportunistic. It does not
appear that Soldier A was the intended target.
Kanon’s father was paralyzed and his mother was believed to be very ill. Khan had been employed by the Olive
Group for less than three months. He is a relatively new employee, and has been working as a guard at FOB
Apache since 27 June 2013. As a new employee, with less than three months on the job, he was not yet
allowed to go on leave.
Since the incident, evidence has emerged suggesting that he may have exhibited signs of depression and mood
swings. It has also been reported that he was seen crying and appeared reclusive.
Khan was scheduled to receive his annual counterintelligence screening on 29 Sep 13 but due to scheduling
conflicts this screening did not occur.