Afghan cleaner shot and killed inside NATO headquartersBy Mirwais Harooni | Reuters
KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan cleaner who worked for NATO-led forces in Afghanistan was shot and killed inside the coalition's headquarters, his family and the coalition said on Tuesday, with investigations underway to determine if he was shot by a NATO service member.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed the shooting had taken place but could not say who carried it out.
While shootings of Afghan civilians working for ISAF are extremely rare, civilian casualties caused by foreign troops hunting insurgents have long been a point of contention between President Hamid Karzai and his Western backers.
The latest shooting is likely to stoke tensions in Afghanistan, where civilian deaths are at a record high in the costly and increasingly unpopular war.
"Unfortunately, he passed away from the wounds caused by the weapon discharge," said ISAF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cummings.
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Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings must have got his undergraduate degree in Obfuscation & Deconstruction: what he said was "he was shot and died of his wounds".
