veteran Afghan air force pilot opened fire inside a military compound at Kabul International Airport early Wednesday, killing an unknown number of Afghan and NATO forces

veteran Afghan air force pilot opened fire inside a military compound at Kabul International Airport early Wednesday, killing an unknown number of Afghan and NATO forces in what might have been another in a series of attacks by Taliban infiltrators, authorities said.

U.S. Master Sgt. Jason Haag, a NATO spokesman, said some NATO forces were killed, but could not say how many.

The pilot, whose identity was not immediately released, began shooting about 11 a.m. after an argument with a foreign colleague, according to a statement released by Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi.

"An Afghan officer opened fire on foreigners after an argument," Azimi said. "For the past 20 years, he has been a military pilot."

Azimi could not give a specific number of deaths and injuries but said the gunman was killed. He did not say whether the foreigner involved in the dispute was a member of NATO coalition forces or whether that person was among the casualties.

The Taliban claimed that it sent the Afghan officer to shoot Afghan and foreign troops at the compound and that he had killed several of both, according to spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid. He did not say how he was informed of the number of casualties.

Maj. Michael Johnson, a spokesman for NATO forces, said they were aware of the shooting but had not yet received details.

Reporters were not allowed into the air force compound, where Afghan troops guarded the doors and no NATO forces were visible. Afghan air force officers declined to comment about the shooting.

The Afghan air force, formerly the Afghan national army air corps, was renamed last year after years of training and upgrades by U.S. forces. The U.S.-led Combined Air Power Transition Force has been working to rebuild and modernize the Afghan air force since 2007, and a number of Afghan pilots and trainees have traveled to the U.S. for English language, instrument and undergraduate pilot training.

The air force numbered about 2,400 as of 2009, a year after they inaugurated their new headquarters at the airport. At the time, President Hamid Karzai said they had been reborn, equipped with 26 new or refurbished aircraft, including transport helicopters and Ukrainian military planes bought with U.S. funding.

Posted in: killing an unknown number of Afghan and NATO forces,veteran Afghan air force pilot opened fire inside a military compound at Kabul International Airport early Wednesday