An observation post of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) manned by British soldiers in the Afghan capital came under fire from unidentified gunmen early today, an ISAF spokesman said.
The British paratroopers returned fire, and the gunmen sped away in a vehicle, ISAF chief of staff Colonel Richard Barons told reporters. No paratroopers were wounded and they evacuated the post.
Later an ISAF investigation team returned to the area and found one man dead and five injured in a nearby house, said Colonel Barons. He declined to say where in Kabul the incident happened.
"The situation is pretty unclear. One person is dead we think from a bullet wound but the other five were not injured by bullets," said Colonel Barons.
The attack was the first against the 17-nation force of around 4,000 deployed in late December to help maintain security in Kabul.
The incident came hours after British Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw left Kabul following talks with Afghan interim leader Mr Hamid Karzai that included discussions on the possible extension of the ISAF's UN Security Council mandate.
The shooting, plus the murder of a government minister on Thursday and scenes of chaos outside a football match in Kabul a day later, have underscored the problem's facing Afghanistan's UN-backed interim government as it grapples to reconcile resurgent lawlessness and factional rivalries.