U.S. general wounded in Afghanistan shooting, Pentagon reveals

The Pentagon has confirmed that U.S. army Brig.-Gen. Jeffrey Smiley was shot in a Taliban attack that killed two Afghan leaders inside the Kandahar governor's compound last week.

U.S. military spokespersonCmdr. Grant W. Neeley provided no other details. The Washington Post reported earlier Sunday that Smiley was recovering after suffering at least one gunshot wound.

The Taliban assassinated threetop provincial officials Thursday in Kandahar province in an attack on a security conference attended by the top U.S. military commander in the country, Gen. Scott Miller. He escaped uninjured.

Gen. AbdulRazeq, one of Afghanistan's most prominent anti-Taliban commanders, was fatally wounded along with the local head of theNDSintelligence service, General AbdulMomim.

The attack was a devastating blow to the government, decapitating the security command of one of Afghanistan's most strategically important provinces and demonstrating the insurgents' ability to strike even top leaders.

While Afghans cast ballots across the country on Sunday in parliamentary elections, voting has been postponed until Saturday in Kandahar province followingthe attack.

Smiley was assigned in the summer to lead a Kandahar-based command with a mission to train and advise Afghan security forces and help with counterterrorism operations in southern Afghanistan.

Along with Smiley, one U.S. civilian and a coalition contractor were wounded in the attack as the group of officials made their way to a helicopter due to take Miller and his party back to Kabul.