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www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=63708
Shooting Incident in Kabul Leaves 9 Dead
Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases
WASHINGTON, April 27, 2011 – Eight International Security Assistance Force service members and an ISAF civilian died today following a shooting incident in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul, military officials reported.
Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said ISAF has confirmed that the service members and civilian were Americans. Because next of kin had not yet been notified, he would not provide the service affiliations of the service members who were killed.
The shooter reportedly was an Afghan air force officer who was killed during the incident, Lapan said.
A written statement released by ISAF headquarters in Kabul said the command joins Afghan President Hamid Karzai in condemning the attack.
In the statement, Army Lt. Gen. William V. Caldwell IV, commander of NATO Training Mission Afghanistan, said the deaths of nine coalition trainers are “a tragic loss.”
“On behalf of those here at NTM-A, and all of ISAF, I wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to the families of the trainers killed today,” Caldwell said.
“President Karzai has directed an investigation into this morning’s events,” Navy Rear Adm. Hal Pittman, senior ISAF spokesman, said in the statement. “ISAF is already working closely with our Afghan partners to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
In other news from Afghanistan:
Coalition forces killed at least 10 armed insurgents during operations yesterday along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.
Troops used artillery fire after receiving reports that a group of armed insurgents planned to attack their patrol. Several insurgents were killed in the engagement, officials said.
The same patrol later came under attack by another group of armed insurgents. Troops returned fire, killing several more enemy fighters. An air weapons team providing overwatch security for the patrol launched a third engagement after seeing three more armed insurgents maneuvering into Afghanistan from Pakistan. Two were injured and one was wounded, officials said.
In other operations yesterday:
— Afghan and coalition forces in Khost province’s Sabari district captured several suspected insurgents, including the senior Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin leader responsible for all operations in the province.
— Security forces detained a Taliban leader and several of his suspected associates allegedly responsible for launching attacks on troops in Kandahar province’s Dand district.
— In Helmand province’s Sangin district, troops captured three suspected insurgents, including a Taliban weapons trafficker responsible for supplying enemy fighters with money, explosives and munitions.
— Forces detained two suspected insurgents, including a Taliban leader responsible for coordinating and carrying out attacks on security forces in Nangarhar province’s Sherzad district.
— Security forces found several weapons and drug stockpiles throughout Afghanistan. The operations resulted in seizure of 1 million Afghan afghanis, which is the equivalent of $23,264, more than 4,000 pounds of marijuana, 2,250 assault-rifle rounds, 90 hand grenades, 60 rocket-propelled grenade boosters, 13 82 mm mortar shells, two automatic machine guns, an assault rifle and antiaircraft ammunitions.
(Lisa Daniel of American Forces Press Service contributed to this report.)
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www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=66818
“Kabul Airport Shooting Probe Determines Gunman Acted Alone”
From a U.S. Air Force News Release
WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2012 – The Air Force’s investigation into an April 27 shooting incident that left eight U.S. airmen and a civilian contractor dead at the Afghan air force headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, determined that the gunman acted alone.
In addition to the U.S. personnel killed, two Afghans were shot and three other Afghans were injured in the attack. The attacker — Col. Ahmed Gul of the Afghan air force — was killed during the incident.
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations report concludes Gul acted alone and discusses factors that may have played a role in the attack, which took place in the Afghan Command and Control Center at North Kabul International Airport.
While the investigation did not determine a conclusive motive for the killing, the report says, the attack appeared to be premeditated, and witness statements indicated Gul may have had personal issues that may have been compounded by financial problems.
The OSI findings do not support media reports shortly after the incident that an argument may have occurred earlier that day between the shooter and the American service members or reports that the gunman disarmed and methodically killed the airmen.
Since the incident, several security initiatives have been implemented to improve the force-protection posture for the coalition advisers, International Security Assistance Force officials said.
Extra personnel have been assigned to the force-protection mission, and air advisors have received additional “active shooter” training, officials said, increasing the likelihood a shooter can be neutralized safely before attacking additional victims. Also, they added, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities have improved, command and control upgrades have been initiated, and several emergency response vehicles have been purchased.
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Shooting Incident in Kabul Leaves 9 Dead