Three American doctors were killed when an Afghan security guard opened fire at a hospital in the country's capital, Kabul, on Thursday, the latest attack on foreigners in that country.

The US Embassy in Afghanistan confirmed that the three American doctors were at a hospital run by the US-based Christian charitable organization CURE International.  Nevertheless sketchy reports did not mention if the three American doctors were working in the said hospital.

Like Us on Facebook

The Cure International hospital in Kabul is a 100-bed hospital manned with 27 doctors and 64 nurses. It started operating within the Afghan capital in 2005.

The embassy said that a fourth American was wounded in the attack, and that two of the three fatalities were father and son doctors. The identities of the three doctors who died in the shooting were not immediately made public.

Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman, Sadiq Sidiqqi, confirmed that the shooter was a security guard assigned in the hospital. Sidiqqi said the suspect was shot and neutralized by another security guard.

"This was an unfortunate incident. The police have arrested the suspect," said Sidiqqi, adding that a thorough investigation is also under way to determine the motive behind the attack.

It was not clear if the suspect has links with the notorious Taliban extremists, which have been launching attacks against Americans and other foreigners in the country.

Early this month, two journalists working for the news wire agency Associated Press were shot dead by a police officer in the eastern part of Afghanistan. The attack occurred just few days after a Swedish journalist was shot dead outside a restaurant in Kabul.

In January, a bomb explosion at a Lebanese restaurant in the capital's diplomatic area killed 21 people.