At least two U.S. Soldiers were shot dead and 10 are wounded in a so-called “insider attack” that also claimed a number of Afghan troops.  It comes at a time of deteriorating relations between President Hamid Karzai and the Americans who prop up his regime.

The shooting happened at an early morning security meeting with U.S. and Afghan forces at a military base in Wardak province not far from Kabul.  An Afghan opened fire on the meeting, killing and wounding several people before he was shot dead at the scene.

Meanwhile, U.S. defense Secretary Chuck Hagel cancelled a planned news conference with Karzai after the Afghan leader claimed that two deadly bomb blasts were “serving America” and intended to frighten the Afghan people into asking the Americans to stay past the planned 2014 withdrawal.

Hagel denied it and officials in Washington ridiculed the suggestion.

Karzai’s bombast might have been revenge for the U.S. changing its plans to hand over the Bagram Prison to the Afghans, which many believe humiliated Karzai before his people and the world.