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KABUL: Eight Nato troops and a contractor were killed on Wednesday when a retired Afghan pilot opened fire after a row at a training centre, the worst attack of its kind in almost a decade of war.
Although the killings appear to have stemmed from a disagreement rather than a rebel attack, they highlighted the prevailing insecurity in Afghanistan, 10 years after a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power.
The deaths are also likely to raise fresh questions over the massive Nato-led effort to expand and train Afghanistan's military and police so they can take control of security when foreign combat operations end in 2014.
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed that eight of its troops and one civilian working for the force died following the shooting, but did not reveal their nationalities in line with policy.
Afghan defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the shootings happened at around 0630 GMT when “an argument took place between an (Afghan) air force officer and foreign colleagues”.
Colonel Mohammed Bahadur Raeeskhail, the Afghan air force's media relations chief, gave further details.
“There is a conference hall and every morning, Afghan and international staff gather there for a briefing and then they proceed to their daily work,”he told AFP. “Today at the briefing, this incident happened.”
He identified the 45-year-old gunman as a former pilot re-recruited to the military a few months ago, who had been working as an air force administrator.
“We don't know what exactly happened to trigger the shooting and how and by whose bullets these casualties were caused,” added Raeeskhail.
The gunman was shot dead by Afghan soldiers following the killings, which took place at a site shared by Kabul's military and civilian airports.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the incident in a text message to AFP, but are known routinely to exaggerate their claims.
An Afghan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the gunman was from a well-respected Kabul family, and that the shooting was the result of an disagreement, not terrorism.
He is thought to have used a pistol in the shooting, the source added.
The incident was condemned by President Hamid Karzai, who said that five members of the Afghan air force were also wounded. He vowed to launch a probe.
The deaths represent the highest number of foreign forces killed in a single incident since September, when nine ISAF troops died in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan.
It is also thought to be the deadliest incident for Nato troops targeted as they trained up Afghan forces.
There is a history of Afghan troops attacking foreign soldiers who have been mentoring them ahead of limited foreign troop withdrawals due to start in July.
