2,000th U.S. troop death...and counting - Afghan soldier kills two Americans in new 'insider attack'.

2,000th U.S. troop death...and counting - Afghan soldier kills two Americans in new 'insider attack' .(DM).An Afghan soldier turned his gun on American troops at a checkpoint in the country's east, in a shooting that marked both the continuance of a disturbing trend of insider attacks and the 2,000th U.S. troop death in the long-running war, officials said today. The string of insider attacks is one of the greatest threats to NATO's mission in the country, endangering a partnership key to training up Afghan security forces and withdrawing international troops. Saturday's shooting took place at an Afghan army checkpoint just outside a joint U.S.-Afghan base in Wardak province, said Shahidullah Shahid, a provincial government spokesman. 'Initial reports indicate that a misunderstanding happened between Afghan army soldiers and American soldiers,' Shahid said. At least two fellow members of Afghanistan's army were also among the dead. He said investigators had been sent to the site to try to figure out what happened. An Afghan official speaking on condition of anonymity said three Afghan soldiers were killed in the clash. It was not clear if the assailant was among the dead. The attack happened about 5pm in Sayd Abad district, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen Zahir Azimi said in an emailed statement. He did not provide further details, saying he would wait for a report from investigators. NATO forces announced the assault early Sunday morning, saying only that it was 'suspected insider attack' and that a NATO service member and civilian contractor were killed. One U.S. official confirmed that the service member killed was American, while another confirmed that the civilian was also American. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the nationality of the dead had not yet been formally announced. Afghan soldiers and policemen - or militants in their uniforms - have gunned down more than 50 foreign troops so far this year, eroding the trust between coalition forces and their Afghan partners An equal number of Afghan policemen and soldiers also died in these attacks, giving them reason as well to be suspicious of possible infiltrators within their ranks.Hmmmm......."Misunderstanding?".....try reading this.The phenomenon of unpredictable killings by the Acehnese came to be known as Atjèh-moord "Acehnese murder."Read the full story here.