Latest News

The shooting, at a joint military base in Wardak Province, happened shortly after a security meeting between the police and American and Afghan forces, the officials said. The gunman, who fired from a truck-mounted machine gun, was killed, said Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the Defense Ministry spokesman.

Afghan officials also said that three Afghan police officers died in the firefight, and that the district police chief was seriously wounded. The death toll for other Afghan security forces, including the commandos who shared the base with the Special Operations soldiers, was unclear.

It was also not clear whether the attacker was a Taliban infiltrator.

The attack, in the Jalrez district, came after three men in Afghan Army uniforms killed a coalition soldier on Friday at a joint military base in Kapisa Province, the first so-called green-on-blue attack since January. The episodes, which reached their highest level in 10 years in 2012, have threatened to undermine the training mission central to the coalition's planned 2014 withdrawal.

The violence in Wardak Province comes at a sensitive time for both the Americans and the Afghans. Sunday was the deadline for all Special Operations forces to leave Wardak, a Taliban stronghold southwest of Kabul that is often used as a staging ground for attacks on the capital. The evacuation was ordered by President Hamid Karzai two weeks ago in the wake of allegations of torture and killing by Afghans working for the elite American forces. The Americans deny the accusations.

The attack on Monday also followed a tense visit by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Mr. Karzai has intensified criticism of American forces operating in Afghanistan in recent weeks. Chief among his complaints was a failed effort on Saturday to hand over control of Bagram Prison to the Afghan government, which the president views as crucial in his bid to assert national sovereignty.