Iraqi policemen kill U.S. soldier

February 25, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Two Iraqi policemen opened fire Tuesday during a U.S. military inspection visit in northern Iraq, killing one American soldier and an interpreter in an attack that deepened worries of possible infiltration of security forces battling insurgents in their last major base.

The shooting at a police outpost in Mosul wounded three other U.S. soldiers. It was the fourth attack in the region since late 2007 with suspected links to Iraqi security units, which have struggled to uproot al-Qaida from strongholds in Iraq’s third-largest city.

Any serious breaches in the Iraqi force could be a particular blow in the Mosul region — where the U.S. military is light and commanders have been generally unable to spawn the type of tribal militia uprisings that helped break insurgent control in other areas of Iraq.

The U.S. military said one interpreter was killed in a small-arms attack and a soldier died later of wounds. Three other soldiers and another Iraqi interpreter were wounded. The military statement gave no other details, saying the attack was under investigation.

The two policemen began shooting as the Americans toured an Iraqi police unit guarding a key bridge in Mosul, police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saeed al-Jubouri said.

The attackers then fled in a car.