Report: Afghan Friendly Fire May Have Killed U.N. Staff

A United Nations investigation says Afghan security forces may have killed a U.N. staff member after mistaking him for an insurgent during a Taliban attack last October.

In a report issued Monday, a U.N. board of inquiry said it was not able to determine who fired the shots that killed three other U.N. staff members, although they may have been killed by friendly fire.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked Afghan authorities to investigate the attack on a U.N. guesthouse in the Afghan capital, Kabul. A fifth staff member and three Afghan security officials were killed in the siege.

A U.N. spokesman (Martin Nesirky) said the report also highlights a number of shortcomings in U.N. security measures.

On Monday, the U.N. announced it was temporarily moving some foreign employees from Kandahar to Kabul. It also has asked more than 200 Afghan personnel to stay home amid deteriorating security in the southern Afghan city.

Two people were killed Monday in explosions in Kandahar.

In northern Afghanistan, a NATO air strike killed a senior Taliban commander, who also was the so-called "shadow governor" of Kunduz province. Mullah Yar Mohammed, also known as Noor Mohammed, and two of his advisers were traveling north of Kunduz city when they were killed early Monday.