Police Officer Opens Fire at Kabul Airport
Jackie Reddy December 15, 2016
One Ugandan national was killed in the attack and six others reportedly left wounded. Afghan authorities are working to ascertain a motive behind the incident.
An Afghan police officer opened fire at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport (KBL) on Wednesday, killing a Ugandan national who was reportedly working for a security company in the country. The incident happened at one of KBL’s security checkpoints and special ops website SOFREP has also reported that six persons were wounded in the attack.
The policeman has been named by the website as Khan Aga, a member of an American-trained law enforcement unit. Airport officials at KBL have confirmed that Aga was arrested after the shooting and is currently being held in custody.
Authorities say that a motive for the incident has not yet been obtained and no group has claimed responsibility for the shooting. Officials are working to clarify if Aga was responding to a perceived threat, or, as the outlet posits, “was a plant himself to open fire and kill as many unarmed civilians as possible.”
Security at KBL had been increased just prior to the incident as officials awaited the arrival of Faryadi Sarwar Zardad. An Afghan warlord also known as Zardad Khan, he had fled Afghanistan for Britain in 1998, where he was eventually arrested, tried and sentenced for crimes involving kidnapping and torture.
Having served most of his 20 year prison sentence in Britain, he was deported back to Afghanistan, where he was due to arrive on Wednesday. A large cadre of his supporters, many of whom were armed, were present at KBL at the time of the incident.
All air and land routes to the airport have been closed in the wake of the shooting as authorities carry out a full investigation into the incident.
[Photo: REUTERS]
