KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan military officer opened fire on foreign troops Wednesday after an argument at the airport in the capital - the latest in a spate of deadly incidents that have occurred inside government or military installations, the Defense Ministry said.

NATO confirmed that foreign troops were among the casualties, but could not say how many.

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The ministry only said a number of people were killed and wounded in the 11 am incident at the airport in Kabul, but gave no specifics.

Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the gunman, an Afghan military pilot, was killed in the shooting, which occurred inside a facility used by the Afghan Air Force.

"An Afghan officer opened fire on foreigners after an argument," Azimi said. "For the past 20 years, he has been a military pilot. An argument happened between him and the foreigners and we have to investigate that."

An Afghan pilot who spoke on condition of anonymity, asid the gunman was Ahmad Gul, a 50-year-old pilot from Tarakhail district of Kabul province.

The Taliban, in a text message to The Associated Press, claimed responsibility. But authorities have not confirmed any connection to insurgents. In a statement, the Taliban said the gunman, who was impersonating an army officer, killed nine foreigners and five Afghans soldiers. Others at the facility helped the gunman gain access, the Taliban said.

Since March 2009, the coalition has recorded 20 incidents where a member of the Afghan security forces or someone wearing a uniform used by them attacked coalition forces, killing a total of 36.

It is not known how many of the 282,000 members of the Afghan security forces were killed.

According to information compiled by NATO, half of the 20 incidents involved the impersonation of an Afghan policeman or soldier. The cause of the other 10 incidents were attributed to combat stress or unknown reasons. The officers insisted that so far, there is no solid information that an insurgent was directed to join the army for the purpose of conducting attacks.