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Afghan police: British troops fired without provocation

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A law enforcement official in Kabul, Afghanistan, told CNN that British paratroopers serving in the international security force were not fired upon before they shot and killed an Afghan man and injured a woman last weekend.

The account from General Security Cmdr. Basir Salangei agrees with accounts given to CNN by people who said they were eyewitnesses, but it conflicts with statements made by a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

ISAF has said its troops came under fire for the first time in the Afghan capital Saturday when an unidentified gunman shot at six British paratroopers.

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But, "according to information from our police investigation, (the British paratroopers) shot from the silo tower. A woman was injured and a man was killed," said Salangei, referring to the tower where the soldiers had established their security post.

"Our investigation found that no one fired on the peacekeepers," Salangei said, adding that the only bullets found at the scene of the shooting, an area on a hillside opposite the tower, were of the type used by the British soldiers.

British Lt. Col. Neal Peckham -- spokesman for the 17-nation ISAF -- was not available for comment Wednesday, but he has said previously that the paratroopers fired their weapons only after being fired upon. He would not comment about whether the bullet that killed the Afghan man was fired by a British soldier.

The matter is under investigation, ISAF has told CNN.

Afghan police are leading the investigation, but British Royal Military Police are conducting the forensic examination of evidence, according to ISAF.

Two of the six British paratroopers were sent back to the United Kingdom this week as part of normal procedure, ISAF said. They remain on active duty.