KABUL, Afghanistan, April 27 (UPI) -- Violence at the Kabul, Afghanistan, airport Wednesday left eight coalition troops and a contractor dead, the International Security Assistance Force said.
NATO spokesman Lt. Col. David Simons of the U.S. Air Force confirmed the shooting involving some of the ISAF forces at a compound used to train the Afghan air force, Stars and Stripes reported.
Simons said he could not discuss any other information concerning the casualties. An ISAF Joint Command release on the deaths also withheld the nationalities of the trainers.
Stars and Stripes said many, if not most, of the personnel training the Afghan air force are Americans.
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An ISAF official said initial reports indicate that all those killed -- originally thought to be six -- were American.
Col. Baha Dur, a spokesman for the Afghan National Army at Kabul's military airport, told CNN the gunman "opened fire at armed U.S. military soldiers inside the airport after an argument between them turned serious. According to my understanding, there are six Americans killed during this gunfight."
Simons did not discuss what precipitated the shooting, only saying, "There was an incident that led to violence."
Others said an Afghan pilot at the military compound opened fire following an argument.
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, said the pilot, who was not immediately identified, had been a military pilot for 20 years, the Los Angeles Times said.
The ISAF said incident involved small arms fire at a location less than a mile from NATO's command center.
The Times quoted a Taliban spokesman as claiming responsibility and saying his group had sent an Afghan officer to shoot Afghan and foreign troops at the compound.
CNN quoted the Taliban spokesman as claiming a suicide attacker had killed nine foreigners and five Afghans before being killed by the Afghan army but NATO denied that claim.
"We do not know why it started but there is no indication that a suicide bomber was involved and there are no reports that someone managed to get into the base to do this," the ISAF said.
CNN reported 36 NATO personnel have died in the past two years, blamed on attacks by people perceived to be Afghan soldiers or police, raising concerns such incidents could hurt the trust between the coalition forces and the Afghan forces they are training to take over the security of the country.
