Afghan Service Member Kills 3 Americans Working For Isaf

Afghan service member kills 3 Americans working for ISAF < br />

2012-07-23 06:29:58 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- An Afghan service member opened fire Sunday at American citizens working for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in western Afghanistan, killing three of them, military and provincial officials said. The motive was not immediately clear.

ISAF said an individual wearing an Afghan National Security Force uniform turned his weapon against civilian employees contracted by the multinational alliance. "The individual who fired on the ISAF contracted civilian employees was killed during the engagement," a spokesperson said.

Because the multinational force defers the release of specific details to national authorities, no other details about the incident were released, including the exact location and whether anyone else was injured. But an Afghan official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the incident took place at a training center in Herat province.

The official identified the victims as American citizens and said it was unclear if the gunman had ties to insurgent groups. There was no immediate claim of responsibility by any insurgent group, and ISAF said the incident is still under investigation.

Sunday's shooting adds to an increasingly frequent series of attacks by Afghan security forces against foreign troops. At least 23 coalition service members have been killed by Afghan security forces this year alone, not including the three Americans killed during Sunday's attack.

There are currently more than 130,000 ISAF troops in Afghanistan, including some 90,000 U.S. troops and more than 9,500 British soldiers. U.S. President Barack Obama previously ordered a drawdown of 23,000 U.S. troops by the end of this summer, and foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

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