U.S. called in to help guard Afghan head

Security concerns have mounted in Afghanistan after one of the country's vice presidents was gunned down

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Between 40 and 50 U.S. specialists will train a new security force to protect Afghan President Hamid Karzai as concern over his safety mounts, according to an official from this Central Asian nation.

The move came after the Afghan government asked the United States to "help our security people," Fazel Akbar, a spokesman for Karzai told CNN on Monday.

While he rejected reports that Karzai's bodyguards have been dismissed as "not true -- all the bodyguards are still at work," he admitted they need security training.

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"Our soldiers are ordinary mujahideen. They are very good fighters but not good security keepers, so we need to train them," said Akbar.

The Afghan government wants America to send specialists to "work with our people -- train them -- for a limited period, 3 to 6 months," he said, adding he expected about 40 to 50 US specialists to come.

Gunned down

Some of the specialists might not be from the military, but from the Secret Service or other U.S. government agencies, he added.

Concern over Karzai's safety mounted after Vice President Abdul Qadir was gunned down earlier this month while being driven away from the gates of the government ministry building in the capital of Kabul. (Full story)

Qadir was the second Afghan Cabinet minister to be killed this year: In February, Abdul Brahman, Afghan minister of civil aviation and tourism, was assassinated at the Kabul airport. (Full story)

Since then nothing has been done to boost the president's security, according to Akbar.

No group has claimed responsibility for Qadir's killing, but the Afghan government has labeled the attack a terrorist act, as the country seeks to head on a path towards peace and stability after decades of civil war and the recent ousting of the Taliban.

The United States had already offered the Afghan government help to track down those responsible for the attack.

U.S. congressional leaders have said America needs to reconsider U.S. forces in security roles in Afghanistan in light of Qadir's assassination.

"This points out how fragile this situation is," said U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"If we're going to win, and by win I mean to stabilize the area, we are going to have to take a look at ... more American involvement."

Hagel said that it "would be a huge defeat for us symbolically" if such incidents destabilize the Afghan government.

U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Florida, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the assassination "a throwback to the old Afghanistan and a setback to the establishment of the new Afghanistan."

"It may indicate that we're going to have to be more active in some of the security aspects," Graham said.

Turkey heads the international security force in charge of maintaining law and order in Afghanistan. American troops are not actively involved in security.

-- CNN's John Raedler contributed to this report