AN AFGHAN PILOT opened fire on his NATO colleagues today following a dispute at Kabul airport, killing eight soldiers and one civilian contractor.

NATO confirmed the deaths, but has not identified the nationalities of the servicemen who were killed.

The PA reports that the veteran Afghan officer – who had served as a military pilot for 20 years – was also killed.

Today’s shooting was the deadliest incident in which an Afghan security force member turning on coalition troops since 16 April, when an Afghan soldier killed 11 people in a suicide bomb attack.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that the gunman was simply biding his time in the army to kill foreign forces, according to Al Jazeera.

However, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry General Mohammad Zahir Azimi said that the gunman was a 50-year-old pilot who became involved in a row with the foreigners. He said an investigation would be launched into the incident.

- Additional reporting by the AP