Kabul, July 09: “Two American soldiers were killed, one American soldier was wounded and the Afghan NDS employee was also killed in the exchange of fire,” deputy provincial governor Abdul Rehman told AFP.
The shooter, identified only as Amanullah, was an employee with the Afghan National Directorate for Security (NDS) and was working as a bodyguard for a high-ranking NDS official, Rehman said on Saturday.
Some sources said Amanullah was the “special bodyguard” of the deputy Afghan spy chief, Hessamudin Hessam.
The incident occurred in the Darah district when the shooter opened fire at American soldiers who were working for Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team, the Afghan official said.
The assault took place after the Afghan guard had an argument with the US troops, reports say.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack. NATO said it has started an investigation into the incident.
Today’s deaths raise the number of casualties for US-led foreign troops in Afghanistan to at least 294 since the beginning of the year, icasualties.org website reported.
At least 2,575 US-led soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001, according to the website.
The security situation remains fragile in Afghanistan despite the presence of nearly 150,000 US-led foreign forces in the country.
The increasing number of troop casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger in the US and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the Afghan war.
—-Agencies