Body of general killed in Afghan "insider attack" arrives in U.S.

DOVER, Del. -- The body of a two-star general killed in an Afghan "insider attack" has arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

A C-17 cargo plane carrying the body of 55-year-old Maj. Gen. Harold Greene landed Thursday morning at Dover, home to the nation's largest military mortuary.

White-gloved soldiers solemnly carried a flag-draped metal case with Greene's remains to a waiting mortuary vehicle as Army officials and other dignitaries saluted.

Greene is the highest-ranked U.S. officer to be killed in combat since 1970 during the Vietnam War. Greene, a 34-year U.S. Army veteran, also is the highest-ranked American officer killed in combat in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Afghan soldier who killed Greene and wounded other top officers hid in a bathroom before his assault and used a NATO assault rifle in his attack, an Afghan military official said Wednesday.

The investigation into the killing of Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, the highest-ranked U.S. officer to be slain in combat since 1970 in the Vietnam War, focused on the Afghan soldier, who went by the single name Rafiqullah, the official said. The shooting wounded about 15 people, including a German general and two Afghan generals, before Rafiqullah was killed, the official told The Associated Press.

However, Rafiqullah's motive for the attack remained unclear Wednesday as American officials prepared to fly Greene's body back to the U.S. and a similar attack saw an Afghan police officer drug and shoot dead seven of his colleagues, authorities said.

Rafiqullah, in his early 20s, joined the Afghan army more than two years ago and came from the country's eastern Paktia province, the Afghan official said. On Tuesday, Rafiqullah just had returned from a patrol around the greater Camp Qargha, west of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The official said others on patrol with Rafiqullah turned in their NATO-issued assault rifles, but Rafiqullah kept his and hid in a bathroom. Rafiqullah opened fire when the generals walked into view, the official said.

The Afghan official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to release the information. A second Afghan military official corroborated his account.

About half of the wounded in Tuesday's attack at Marshal Fahim National Defense University were Americans, several of them reported to be in serious condition. However, there was no indication that Greene was specifically targeted.

The Afghan military official said there was no motive yet for Rafiqullah's attack, though he came from a district in Paktia province known to harbor fighters from the Haqqani network, which has strong links to the Taliban and conducts attacks against U.S. forces. There also were indications that Rafiqullah had a dispute with his own superiors before the shooting and opened fire because of it, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information not yet made public.

Camp Qargha is sometimes called "Sandhurst in the Sand"- referring to the famed British military academy - because British forces oversaw building the officer school and its training program.

CBS News' Ahmad Mukhtar reported that Qargha is expected to be Britain's only military presence in the country after combat troops complete their pullout by next year.