— Eight NATO service members and a contractor are dead after an Afghan military pilot opened fire on the foreign troops following a dispute at the airport in Kabul.
Wednesday’s shooting was the deadliest incident in which a member of the Afghan security forces turned against coalition forces.
NATO did not disclose the nationalities of the troops killed.
The worst incident before that occurred on April 16 when an Afghan soldier walked into a meeting of NATO trainers and Afghan troops at Forward Operating Base Gamberi in Laghman province and detonated a vest of explosives hidden underneath his uniform.
Six NATO troops, four Afghan soldiers and an interpreter were killed in that incident.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, but Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the gunman was an Afghan military pilot who “opened fire on foreigners after an argument.”
The pilot was killed in the morning shooting, which occurred at a facility used by the Afghan Air Force, Azimi said.
Azimi said the shooter was a military pilot of 20 years. “An argument happened between him and the foreigners and we have to investigate that.”
An Afghan pilot who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the gunman was Ahmad Gul, a 50-year-old pilot from Tarakhail district of Kabul province.
In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, however, that the gunman was impersonating an army officer and that others at the facility helped him gain access. The gunman killed nine foreigners and five Afghan soldiers, he said. The Taliban often exaggerate the number of casualties caused by their attacks.
Taliban insurgents have stepped up their attacks on government and military installations across Afghanistan.
— An Afghan man wearing a border police uniform who shot and killed two American military personnel April 4 in northwest Faryab province was upset over the burning of the Quran at a Florida church.
— An Afghan soldier who shot and killed three German soldiers and wounded six others Feb. 18 in northern Baghlan province felt he had been personally offended by his German partners.
— An Afghan border policeman who gunned down six American soldiers Nov. 29, 2010 in eastern Nangarhar province was suffering from personal stress because his father was forcing him into an arranged marriage.
It is not known how many of the 282,000 members of the Afghan security forces have been killed in these type of incidents.
A man in an Afghan army uniform penetrated to the heart of the Afghan Defense Ministry compound on April 18 and gunned down two Afghan soldiers.
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