We hear all the time about Afghan civilians getting mowed down at checkpoints, whether run by Karzai government forces or by NATO. Some car moves a little funny, the guard assumes “terrorist” and starts rattling off machine gun fire until everyone is dead.

The price of being a civilian in an occupied country, right? But the reviled checkpoint system isn’t even working for NATO forces anymore, as officials are reporting a major gunbattle broke out when NATO troops tried to cross a checkpoint in Ghazni.

NATO’s nighttime patrol approached the checkpoint, and all the usual excuses went off, including “failed to stop” which is the catch-all excuse every time troops shoot a Senator or an infant at a checkpoint.

What followed was a 15 minute gunbattle between NATO and the Afghan forces manning the checkpoint. Eventually they “realized the mistake” and went on with their days. It was one of two incidents of NATO clashing with Afghan police, fights which left at least four Afghan police dead and four wounded.

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