WASHINGTON, Nov 13: The sex scandal that brought down the CIA chief also involves another general who succeeded Gen David Petraeus as the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, the White House and the Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday.

“On Sunday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation referred to the Department of Defence a matter involving Gen John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan,” Pentagon press secretary George Little told reporters in Washington.

In a separate statement, White House National Security spokesman Tommy Vietor said President Barack Obama had delayed proceedings about Gen. Allen’s nomination as next commander of US and Nato forces in Europe on Defence Secretary Leon Panetta’s request.

And it seems that the woman who brought down the CIA chief and may now fell Gen. Allen is the same, a US Air Force civilian liaison, Jill Kelly.

All four involved in this scandal — the two generals, Ms Kelly and Paula Broadwell — are married with children.

According to information leaked to the media so far, Gen. Allen was so involved with Ms Kelly that between 2010 and 2012, he sent 20,000 to 30,000 pages of electronic messages to her.

Earlier this week when Gen. Petraeus admitted having an extramarital affair with a reserved army major, Paula Broadwell; Ms Kelly also came under the spotlight as the woman who instigated the probe that brought down the CIA chief.

US media reports indicate that Ms Kelly was close to Gen. Petraeus as well, so close that Ms Broadwell thought she too was having an affair with him and started sending threatening messages to her.

Ms Kelly, a socialite, has powerful friends in every government agency, including the FBI. So she forwarded Ms Broadwell’s messages to an FBI agent. The investigation that followed could have been hushed up but the FBI agent did something unheard of, he passed on his findings to a congressman. This made Gen. Petraeus realise that he could no longer hide the scandal, so he resigned.

While the Pentagon has confirmed that the messages Gen. Petraeus exchanged with Ms Broadwell indicated an extramarital affair, they are refusing to disclose the nature of Gen. Allen’s communication with Ms Kelly.

Gen. Allen has denied any wrongdoing. If Gen. Allen is found to have had an affair with Ms Kelley, he could face charges of adultery, which is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Gen. Petraeus says his affair with Ms Broadwell started after he had left the army.

Gen. Allen succeeded Mr Petraeus as the top American commander in Afghanistan in July 2011, and the Obama administration had nominated him as the next commander of the US and Nato forces in Europe.

The White House, however, said that President Obama had delayed the nomination, although he “remains focused on fully supporting our extraordinary troops and coalition partners in Afghanistan and Gen. Allen continues to lead as he has so ably done for over a year”.

Defence Secretary Panetta said the Pentagon also had launched an internal investigation into Ms Kelly’s communication with Gen. Allen.

A transcript of his press talk, released by the Pentagon in Washington, quoted Mr Panetta as telling reporters that Gen. Allen would retain his command in Afghanistan while the inquiry continued.