By Associated Press PUBLISHED: 07:28 EST, 30 September 2012 | UPDATED: 10:15 EST, 30 September 2012 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.
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Two Afghan soldiers also killed in 'misunderstanding' between forces
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Insider attacks have led to the death of 50 foreign troops in Afghanistan in 2012
The close contact - with coalition forces working side by side with Afghan troops as advisers, mentors and trainers - is a key part of the @placeholder strategy for preparing the Afghans to take the lead in security operations as the U.S. and other nations prepare to pull out their last combat troops at the end of 2014, just 27 months away.