KABUL – An American soldier was killed in a shooting incident Wednesday in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad in which at least two other U.S. troops were wounded when an Afghan soldier opened fire at them, a U.S. official said.
The incident happened after a meeting between Afghan provincial leaders and a U.S. Embassy official in the compound of the provincial governor in Jalalabad. All U.S. Embassy staff were accounted for and returned safely to their mission, the embassy said.
NATO confirmed one of its soldiers died in the attack, without providing the nationality of the slain soldier, as is the coalition’s policy. The Washington official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak before the official announcement was released.
It was the second fatality suffered by NATO since the beginning of the year, when the coalition launched its new mission in Afghanistan called Resolute Support. Also, an Afghan soldier killed three American contractors on January 29. The shooter was also killed in that incident.
Gen. Fazel Ahmad Sherzad, who is police chief for eastern Nangarhar province where the shooting happened, said it took place immediately after the meeting and the embassy official has left.
“Right after the U.S. official had left, suddenly an Afghan army soldier opened fire on the U.S. soldiers who were present in the compound,” Sherzad told The Associated Press.
The American troops returned fire, killing the Afghan soldier, whom Sherzad identified as Abdul Azim, from Laghman province. The motive for his attack was not immediately known.
Information was sketchy and an eyewitness told the AP that four U.S. troops had been wounded in the attack – not three as Sherzad said – and were being treated at a clinic on the American base in Jalalabad.
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