Deadly Shooting at US Compound in Kabul
Afghan employee opens fire at US compound, said to contain CIA base, killing one American citizen and injuring another.
An Afghan employee has killed a US citizen and wounded another in a "shooting incident" at an annexe of the US embassy in Kabul, which is reported to also serve as the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) base in Afghanistan.
"There was a shooting incident at an annexe of the US embassy in Kabul involving an Afghan employee who was killed," US embassy spokesman Gavin Sundwall said on Monday.
Sundwall said that the Afghan employee had acted as "a lone gunman" and that the motive for the attack was "still under investigation".
The injuries to the second US citizen were not life-threatening, Sundwall added.
The CIA has declined to comment, but a US government source acknowledged that the building targeted in Sunday's attack likely contained CIA offices.
'Test transition'
Analysts say some groups in Afghanistan want to derail NATO's plans to handover security responsibility to Afghan forces by 2014.
Kabul, at one time considered a relatively secure area, has witnessed several recent attacks.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's secretary-general, recently told reporters: "We are witnessing that the Taliban try to test transition but they can't stop it. Transition is on track and it will continue."
Last week, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Afghanistan's former president who headed a team tasked with negotiating peace with the Taliban, was killed in a suicide attack on his home.
Two weeks ago, fighters launched an assault against the US embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul.
US officials blamed those attacks on the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, an Afghan group based in Pakistan's tribal areas.
The officials said there was intelligence, including intercepted phone calls, suggesting those attackers were in communication with people connected to Pakistan's principal spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate.
Pakistani officials strongly denied any ISI connection to the earlier Kabul attacks.
FINAL DAY! This is urgent.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
An Afghan employee has killed a US citizen and wounded another in a "shooting incident" at an annexe of the US embassy in Kabul, which is reported to also serve as the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) base in Afghanistan.
"There was a shooting incident at an annexe of the US embassy in Kabul involving an Afghan employee who was killed," US embassy spokesman Gavin Sundwall said on Monday.
Sundwall said that the Afghan employee had acted as "a lone gunman" and that the motive for the attack was "still under investigation".
The injuries to the second US citizen were not life-threatening, Sundwall added.
The CIA has declined to comment, but a US government source acknowledged that the building targeted in Sunday's attack likely contained CIA offices.
'Test transition'
Analysts say some groups in Afghanistan want to derail NATO's plans to handover security responsibility to Afghan forces by 2014.
Kabul, at one time considered a relatively secure area, has witnessed several recent attacks.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's secretary-general, recently told reporters: "We are witnessing that the Taliban try to test transition but they can't stop it. Transition is on track and it will continue."
Last week, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Afghanistan's former president who headed a team tasked with negotiating peace with the Taliban, was killed in a suicide attack on his home.
Two weeks ago, fighters launched an assault against the US embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul.
US officials blamed those attacks on the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, an Afghan group based in Pakistan's tribal areas.
The officials said there was intelligence, including intercepted phone calls, suggesting those attackers were in communication with people connected to Pakistan's principal spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate.
Pakistani officials strongly denied any ISI connection to the earlier Kabul attacks.
An Afghan employee has killed a US citizen and wounded another in a "shooting incident" at an annexe of the US embassy in Kabul, which is reported to also serve as the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) base in Afghanistan.
"There was a shooting incident at an annexe of the US embassy in Kabul involving an Afghan employee who was killed," US embassy spokesman Gavin Sundwall said on Monday.
Sundwall said that the Afghan employee had acted as "a lone gunman" and that the motive for the attack was "still under investigation".
The injuries to the second US citizen were not life-threatening, Sundwall added.
The CIA has declined to comment, but a US government source acknowledged that the building targeted in Sunday's attack likely contained CIA offices.
'Test transition'
Analysts say some groups in Afghanistan want to derail NATO's plans to handover security responsibility to Afghan forces by 2014.
Kabul, at one time considered a relatively secure area, has witnessed several recent attacks.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's secretary-general, recently told reporters: "We are witnessing that the Taliban try to test transition but they can't stop it. Transition is on track and it will continue."
Last week, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Afghanistan's former president who headed a team tasked with negotiating peace with the Taliban, was killed in a suicide attack on his home.
Two weeks ago, fighters launched an assault against the US embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul.
US officials blamed those attacks on the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, an Afghan group based in Pakistan's tribal areas.
The officials said there was intelligence, including intercepted phone calls, suggesting those attackers were in communication with people connected to Pakistan's principal spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate.
Pakistani officials strongly denied any ISI connection to the earlier Kabul attacks.

