9 Americans Killed in Kabul Shooting, Bulgarian Rangers Safe and Sound

Afghan Army soldiers secure the military base after a shooting incident, in Kabul, Afghanistan on 27 April 2011. EPA/BGNES

A shooting near the Kabul Airport left nine foreigners dead but the Bulgarian soldiers stationed in the capital of Afghanistan are safe and sound, according to the Defense Ministry in Sofia.

Six troops from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed in a shooting on Wednesday involving an Afghan Air Force pilot at the airport in the Afghan capital, ISAF said in a brief statement without giving details about the incident or about the nationality of the troops killed.

According to ABC News, however, there are nine persons killed, and all of them are Americans. Officials said it is the deadliest episode to date of an Afghan turning against his own coalition partners.

It happened in an operations room of the Afghan Air Corps at Kabul airport. According to officials, the Afghan officer, who was a veteran military pilot, fired on the foreigners after an argument.

"Suddenly, in the middle of the meeting, shooting started. After the shooting started, we saw a number of Afghan army officers and soldiers running out of the building. Some were even throwing themselves out of the windows to get away," said Afghan Air Corps spokesman Col. Bahader, who uses only one name, as cited by ABC News.

Five Afghan soldiers were also wounded in the incident. It was the seventh time so far this year that members of the Afghan security forces, or insurgents impersonating them, have killed coalition soldiers or members of the Afghan security forces.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the shooting and offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims. The president ordered his defense and security officials to investigate the recent incidents to determine why they occurred.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the gunman, who was killed during the shooting, was impersonating an army officer and that others at the facility helped him gain access.

However authorities have not confirmed any connection to insurgents. Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the gunman was an Afghan military pilot of 20 years.

Bulgaria's Defense Ministry said Wednesday after that the situation in the Bulgarian zone of responsibility at the Kabul Airport is calm, and no Bulgarian troops were affected in the shooting.

A total of 600 Bulgarian soldiers and medical staff are currently stationed in Afghanistan in Kabul and Kandahar.

The worst incident with Bulgarian soldiers in Afghanistan to date occurred in January 2010, when four Bulgarians were wounded in a Taliban rocket attack, with one of them subsequently losing his hand. The incident coincided with the visit to the base of then Bulgarian Defense Minister and now Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikolay Mladenov.

In 2010, Bulgaria increased its Afghanistan contingent as part of the ISAF/NATO forces to 600 troops; about half of them are stationed at the Kabul Airport.

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