U.S. aid worker held over Afghan boy's shooting

KABUL (Reuters) - An American aid worker in northern Afghanistan is being held by Afghan authorities over the fatal shooting of an Afghan teenager at his home, a provincial police chief said on Wednesday.

Mohammad Bilal Niram, chief of police in the northern Sar-i-pul province, said the aid worker had killed his landlord's 16-year-old son with three gunshots, possibly suspecting a burglary when the boy tried to enter his home.

"He is in Afghan government custody for investigation. He has not been charged," Niram said.

The man worked for GP he said, referring to Global Partners, a UK-based aid group which says it has run programs in Afghanistan since 1993. Staff at the organization's London headquarters declined to comment on the incident.

John Groch, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy, confirmed that an American had been arrested in Sar-i-pul but said he could give no further details pending the Afghan police investigation.

(Reporting by Hamid Shalizi and Peter Graff, writing by Peter Graff, editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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