KABUL: An Afghan official says a shooting in the southern city of Kandahar has left five dead, including two police officers and three private security guards.

A spokesman for the governor's office, Zulmi Ayubi, said on Tuesday that a man who was part of a force guarding a checkpoint opened fire during an argument overnight.

Ayubi says the shooter fled. He did not say if the attacker was a police officer or a security guard.

He says four police officers were also wounded in the shooting and that all involved were Afghans.

It's not clear what the argument was about.