Not since the terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia in June 1996 has the U.S. Air Force lost so many personnel in a hostile attack as it did on April 27, when an Afghan pilot opened fire on American service members at Kabul Air Base.

 

Eight of the nine killed were in the Air Force; the other was a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.

 

Fifteen years ago, 19 airmen perished when terrorists bombed Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

 

The Kabul shootings occurred in an operations room after 48-year-old pilot Ahmad Gul got into an argument with some instructors. Gul managed to get out of the room following his rampage, but was later found dead of gunshot wounds in another part of the base.

 

Although the Taliban claimed responsibility for the deaths, Gul’s family said he was experiencing financial stress and had no connection to the Taliban.

 

The Air Force victims were Maj. Philip D. Ambard, 44, of Edmonds, Wash.; Maj. Jeffrey O. Ausborn, 41, of Gadsden, Ala.; Maj. David L. Brodeur, 34, of Auburn, Mass.; Master Sgt. Tara R. Brown, 33, of Deltona, Fla.; Lt. Col. Frank D. Bryant Jr., 37, of Knoxville, Tenn.; Maj. Raymond G. Estelle II, 40, of New Haven, Conn.; Capt. Nathan J. Nylander, 35, of Hockley, Texas; and Capt. Charles A. Ransom, 31, of Midlothian, Virginia.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Kabul AF Deaths Worst Since Khobar Towers (by Bryant Jordan, Military.com)

NATO Says 8 U.S. Troops Were Armed When Afghan Pilot Killed Them (By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times)