By NBC News’ Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube and wire reports

An Afghan soldier shot and killed two American soldiers on Monday during a dispute in Laghman province in Afghanistan. The Afghan soldier was then shot and killed by U.S. forces.



"ISAF troops returned fire, killing the ANA (Afghan National Army) soldier who committed the attack,'' the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.



A senior military official in Kabul strongly disputes an Afghan military account which claims the two Americans were killed accidentally when the Afghan tripped on his weapon, which discharged and struck the U.S. servicemen. “The Afghan account is tortured beyond belief and total bull****,” the official told NBC News.



The deaths in Laghman brought the number of foreign soldiers killed this month to 12, prompting NATO to increase security against insider attacks, including requiring soldiers to carry loaded weapons at all times on base.



The deaths also come a week after U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Martin Dempsey visited Kabul to talk about rogue shootings and urge Afghan officials to take tougher preventative action.