An Afghan soldier opened fire Thursday on NATO occupation troops, killing one American trainer and wounding several other soldiers in the country’s east, officials said.

An Afghan soldier opened fire Thursday on NATO occupation troops, killing one American trainer and wounding several other soldiers in the country's east, officials said.

The shooting was at a military training facility and base in the eastern province of Paktia, known to be one of the hotbeds of Taliban, an Afghan official said.

A US defense official said the NATO trainer killed was an American.

The soldier attached to NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was inside the base when attacked, Rohullah Samoon, the local administration spokesman, told AFP from the provincial capital Gadez.

ISAF said the attacker, described as "wearing Afghan national security forces uniform", was killed in return fire from other troops on the ground. ISAF did not provide further details including the exact location of the incident.

Attacks of this nature, locally known as "insider" are common in Afghanistan.

An Afghan soldier shot dead three US occupation soldiers during a training exercise in Paktia last Saturday.