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The Afghan government on Thursday issued a statement on the shooting incident near the US Embassy on Wednesday, saying it was caused by misunderstanding between US and Afghan troops.
"Unfortunately, we received the report about shooting incident occurring yesterday morning in front of the US Embassy which caused the killing of one Afghan officer, two soldiers and injured two soldiers," said the statement by the presidential palace.
"The incident occurred due to misunderstanding and was unwanted by authorities of both sides," it said.
It added that President Hamid Karzai has requested a delegation led by Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali to investigate the case and find out the cause of the incident.
It was reported that US Marine soldiers guarding the US Embassy in downtown Kabul on Wednesday morning mistakenly opened fire at some Afghan soldiers who were removing weapons from an barracks opposite the embassy.
Calling it a friendly fire, Afghan Interior Minister Jalali told a press conference here earlier in the day that the "tragic" incident was a result of the heightened attention by US soldiers who raised their terror alert status because of recent terrorist attacks around Kabul.
Over 8,000 US troops are in Afghanistan to hunt down remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, of them, some hundreds are stationed in the capital city guarding US interests and helping train the Afghan new national army.
(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2003)
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