Report: Afghan forces may have killed U.N. employee

The United Nations announced today that Afghan security forces may have killed a U.N. employee, Louis Maxwell, following an assault by heavily-armed insurgents on a U.N. guesthouse in October.

A preliminary internal investigation "raised the disturbing possibility" that Maxwell, a U.S. national, "may have died to due to "friendly fire" from Afghan security forces," U.N. chief spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters today. Nesirky said a high level U.N. board of inquiry is expected to conclude its investigation into the case in the coming days.

The announcement followed the publication of an account of Maxwell’s death in the German magazine Stern. The magazine also broadcast a video, which it claimed was provided by the United Nations, purportedly showing Maxwell being shot by Afghan security forces. 

Insurgents armed with automatic weapons, grenades and suicide vests launched an Oct. 28 attack on a private guesthouse where U.N. personnel were staying. The incident marked the most deadly attack yet against U.N. civilians in Afghanistan and forced the United Nations to evacuate hundreds of international staffers from the country. Five staffers "were tragically killed" in the incident, Nesirky said.

After the attack, the U.N. mission in Afghanistan conducted a preliminary probe into the attack, They uncovered evidence suggesting that Maxwell, a security official, escaped the residence only to be killed by Afghan forces responding to the attack, according to U.N. officials. Afghan authorities initially claimed that Maxwell had been killed by insurgents, possibly from an exploded suicide vest.

"His last words over the walkie-talkie he was holding were, `I am shot,’" Michele Montas, the former U.N. spokesman, told the Miami Herald after the incident. "Then there was an explosion as one of the suicide bombers apparently detonated the explosives he was carrying."

Secretary General Ban Ki moon praised Maxwell and another U.N. security guard, Laurance Mefful of Ghana, for holding off the attackers for about an hour. "They fought through the corridors of the building and from the rooftop," Ban told U.N. delegates ad the U.N. General Assembly. "They held off the attackers long enough for their colleagues to escape, armed only with pistols against assailants carrying automatic weapons and grenades and wearing suicide vests."

Following a preliminary inquiry, the United Nations called for additional investigative support from headquarters, establishing the board of inquiry in January. "Once the board of inquiry is finalized, we will share our findings with the Government of Afghanistan and if warranted we will ask for a thorough investigation surrounding the death of this U.N. employee and the circumstances of the deaths of the other U.N. employees," Nesirky said.

In addition, Nesirky said the United Nations is also cooperating with a separate investigation into the Afghan governments possible involvement in the killing by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "The United Nations has briefed the Maxwell family on the progress of its initial inquiries and is determined to support the family."