U.S. Military Deaths In Afghanistan Hits 2,000

By Associated Press

30 September 12

n Afghan soldier has killed two Americans and two fellow members of Afghanistan's army at a checkpoint in the east of the country.

The shooting continues the trend of "insider attacks" and marks the 2,000th US troop death in the long-running war, officials said.

The series of insider attacks is one of the greatest threats to Nato's mission in Afghanistan, endangering a partnership key to training Afghan security forces and withdrawing international troops.

Saturday's shooting took place at an Afghan army checkpoint just outside a joint US-Afghan base in Wardak province, said Shahidullah Shahid, a provincial government spokesman. At least two Afghan soldiers also died, he said.

"Initial reports indicate that a misunderstanding happened between Afghan army soldiers and American soldiers," Shahid said.

He said investigators had been sent to the site. It was not clear if the assailant was killed.

The attack happened about 5pm local time in Sayd Abad district, the Afghan defence ministry spokesman, General Zahir Azimi, said in a statement. He did not provide further details.

Nato forces said the shooting was a "suspected insider attack" and confirmed that a Nato service member and civilian contractor were killed.

One US official confirmed that both were American. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the nationality of the dead had not yet been formally announced.

Afghan soldiers and police officers or militants in their uniforms have killed more than 50 foreign troops so far this year. An equal number of Afghan police officers and soldiers also died in these attacks, raising suspicions of possible infiltrators within their ranks.

The attacks are taking a toll on the partnership between international and Afghan forces, prompting the US military to restrict operations with small-sized Afghan units earlier this month.

The close contact with coalition forces working side by side with Afghan troops as advisers, mentors and trainers is a key part of the US strategy for preparing the Afghans to take the lead in security operations as the US and other nations prepare to pull out their last combat troops at the end of 2014.