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Afghan insider attack kills 2 Americans, at least 2 Afghans; 2,000 US troops dead in war
• KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- An Afghan soldier turned his gun on American troops at a checkpoint in the country's east, killing two Americans and at least two fellow members of Afghanistan's army 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 Sunday.
• 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. 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.
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Car bombs target Shiite areas, security forces in Iraq, killing 19
• BAGHDAD (AP) -- Bombs striking Shiite neighborhoods, security forces and other targets across Iraq killed at least 19 people Sunday, officials said. It was the latest string of coordinated bombings in multiple Iraqi cities, a tactic used by insurgents apparently aimed at rekindling widespread sectarian conflict and undermining public confidence in the beleaguered government.
• The deadliest attack came in the town of Taji, a former al-Qaida stronghold just north of Baghdad, where three explosive-rigged cars went off within minutes of each other. Police said eight people died and 28 were injured in the back-to-back blasts that began around 7:15 a.m.
• In all, at least 68 people were wounded in the wave of attacks that stretched from the restive but oil-rich city of Kirkuk in Iraq's north to the southern Shiite town of Kut.
• There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the violence, but car bombs (Continued on page 25)
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