Inside Attack Kills 2 American Soldiers - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

Inside Attack Kills 2 American Soldiers

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Officials say an Afghan police officer opened fire inside a police station while U.S. forces were visiting, sparking a firefight that killed two U.S. troops and three Afghan policemen. 

Today's incident in Wardak province appears to be the latest in a series of insider attacks against coalition and Afghan forces. It comes a day after a deadline given by Afghans for U.S. special forces to withdraw from the province.

Deputy provincial Police Chief Abdul Razaq Koraishi says three Afghan officers were killed. A coalition military official says two U.S. forces were killed. The majority of U.S. troops in Wardak are special operations forces.

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has encountered political tension with the Afghan president and a series of security problems during his first visit to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief. But Hagel met privately with President Hamid Karzai and says they discussed the key issues. 

Hagel says he understands that Karzai faces political pressures as the war winds down and he thinks the Afghan leader understands where the two countries stand. 

Hagel is disputing Karzai's accusations Sunday that the U.S. and the Taliban are working in concert to show that violence in the country will worsen if most coalition troops leave. The accusations were just the latest in a series of disputes that have frayed relations between the two nations.