Afghan contractors violated gun policy

Four US contractors for the company formerly known as Blackwater were not authorised to carry weapons when they were involved in a deadly shooting in Afghanistan this month, the US military said today.

The men – accused of opening fire on a vehicle in the capital Kabul on May 5 - claim their employer, now called Xe, issued them guns in breach of the company’s contract with the military. One Afghan was killed in the shooting, and two others wounded.