Afghan soldier kills 1 American after firing at U.S. troops, wounds 2

World Today

An Afghan policeman looks at a bloodstained pavement at the site of an attack by an Afghan national army soldier who opened fire on U.S. troops, at the compound of the provincial governor, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Wednesday, April 8, 2015. An American soldier was killed in the shooting Wednesday in which at least two other U.S. troops were wounded. The incident happened after a meeting between Afghan provincial leaders and a U.S. Embassy official. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)An Afghan policeman looks at a bloodstained pavement at the site of an attack by an Afghan national army soldier who opened fire on U.S. troops, at the compound of the provincial governor, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Wednesday, April 8, 2015. An American soldier was killed in the shooting Wednesday in which at least two other U.S. troops were wounded. The incident happened after a meeting between Afghan provincial leaders and a U.S. Embassy official. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

An Afghan soldier opened fire at a group of U.S. troops in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing an American soldier and wounding at least two others before he was shot dead, 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 headquarters, the embassy said.

NATO confirmed that 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.

“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,” police chief of eastern Nangarhar province, Gen. Faxel 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 and no group claimed responsibility for the assault.

Report filed by The Associated Press