WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior officer at the U.S.-led military command in Kabul says Afghan "insider attacks" on U.S. and allied troops are designed to shake Western resolve.

Australian Brig. Gen. Roger Noble told reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday that such attacks probably are having more impact in the U.S. and other NATO capitals than on allied forces still fighting the Taliban.

Noble said it's understandable that these killings are particularly galling to the families of those killed by their supposed Afghan partners.

He said that "it strikes right at the heart of our resolve. It's one thing to be killed in action by the insurgents. It's quite another to be shot in the back of the head at night by your friends."

Noble spoke by video link from the Afghan capital.

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