Football: Thirteen proves lucky for Mata and Chelsea

NORWICH, United Kingdom: Juan Mata was the Chelsea match-winner after his goal turned out to be enough to defeat Norwich City 1-0 at Carrow Road on Wednesday.

The Spain international broke the deadlock seven minutes before half-time to record his 13th goal of the season.

It turned out to be a valuable one as Rafa Benitez's side were able to close the gap on Manchester City, beaten 1-0 at Sunderland, in second place. Chelsea are now four points behind last season's title winners, and have a game in hand.

There was no place in the Chelsea starting line-up for either Frank Lampard or Eden Hazard even though both had scored in Sunday's 8-0 victory over Aston Villa, a record defeat for the Midlands side.

John Obi Mikel and Oscar replaced them at a time when a newspaper report had stated that Lampard, whose contract expires at the end of the season, had been told by the Chelsea hierarchy that he must find a new club in January.

It took a while for either side to fashion a chance and the first fell to Norwich but Alex Tettey miscued his effort from the edge of the box so much the ball ended up going out for a throw-in.

Chelsea's reply, which took 10 minutes to arrive, was hardly more impressive as David Luiz, playing in a defensive midfield role, blasted a long-range effort well over the Norwich crossbar.

Mata saw a shot blocked by Sebastien Bassong as Chelsea began to threaten. Luiz's ball reached Ashley Cole on the left of the City box but Michael Turner was in quickly to block.

Another Luiz ball set Mata up on the other side of the Norwich box but the Spain midfielder fired wide of Mark Bunn's near post and found only the side-netting.

Mikel fired another shot over the bar following an elaborate build-up and Chelsea finally broke the deadlock in the 38th minute when Mata received the ball from Oscar and beat Bunn from 20 yards with a perfectly-placed shot.

Cole fired wide early in the second half and Fernando Torres, who had been very quiet, soon saw a shot on the turn blocked by a defender. Victor Moses was next to have ago but the angle was tight on the left of the box and Bunn was able to save.

Home hopes were boosted by a fine interchange between Wes Hoolahan and Grant Holt but the latter fired across goal and wide, and the flag was up for offside anyway.

It was not long before Norwich were back under pressure but Bunn made a comfortable save to keep out Mata's free-kick from 30 yards out and once again the goalkeeper was not required when Luiz blasted another long-ranger metres over his crossbar.

Moses could have made it 2-0 in the 68th minute when he chested down a cross from the right Cesar Azpilicueta to elude his marker but his first-time shot ended up thumping into an advertising hoarding rather than the net.

Azpilicueta was hurt at the other end as Bradley Johnson challenged with a high boot before Lampard replaced Mikel in the 73rd minute and Johnson was booked for a clear dive moments before being replaced by Jonny Howson.

Bunn made another quality save to deny Hazard, who had come on for Moses in the 79th minute, after a clever back-heel from Torres had opened up the Norwich defence on the left. Hazard, on as a substitute, was then booked for a cynical trip on Russell Martin.

Cole had to hack the ball away for a corner in front of his own goal as Norwich piled on some late pressure and Bassong headed over from the resulting corner. It was too little too late for the Canaries and Chelsea were not troubled again before the final whistle.

-AFP/ac

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Netflix outage mars Christmas Eve

Netflix's video streaming service suffered a Christmas Eve outage on "many but not all devices" across the Americas, according to the company.

The company first started responding to tweets about disrupted service before 1 p.m. PT yesterday. About three hours later, Netflix offered an apology on its main account.

"We're sorry for the Christmas Eve outage. Terrible timing! Engineers are working on it now," Netflix said in a tweet in the late afternoon yesterday.

Netflix pinned the issue on Amazon Web Services servers and said it was working with Amazon engineers on a fix.

By the evening, Netflix noted that the problem was not yet resolved and promised to tweet as soon as it was resolved.

As of this morning, Netflix had not posted any updates on Twitter or Facebook. But Netflix spokesman Joris Evers e-mailed a statement to CNET today about the outage, noting that "streaming was available again for the majority of our members late on Christmas Eve Pacific Time."

Netflix tagged the outage as starting around 12:30 p.m. PT. The number of devices affected by the outage was "initially limited but grew in scope" over the afternoon, Evers said.

"We...apologize for any inconvenience caused last night," the statement said. "We are investigating the cause and will do what we can to prevent reccurrence."

This story was updated at 9:57 a.m. PT with a statement from Netflix.

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Pope decries slaughter of "defenseless" in Syria

VATICAN CITY Pope Benedict XVI wished Christmas peace to the world Tuesday, decrying the slaughter of the "defenseless" in Syria and urging Israelis and Palestinians to find the courage to negotiate.

Delivering the Vatican's traditional Christmas day message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Benedict also encouraged Arab spring nations, especially Egypt, to build just and respectful societies.

He prayed that China's new leaders respect religion, a reference to persecution Chinese Roman Catholics have at times endured under communism.

As the 85-year-old pontiff, bundled up in an ermine-trimmed red cape, gingerly stepped foot on the balcony, the pilgrims, tourists and Romans below backing St. Peter's Square erupted in cheers.

Less than 12 hours earlier, Benedict had led a two-hour long Christmas Eve ceremony in the basilica. He sounded hoarse and looked weary as he read his Christmas message and then holiday greetings in 65 languages.

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Christians around the world celebrate Christmas

In his "Urbi et Orbi" speech, which traditionally reviews world events and global challenges, Benedict prayed that "peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict that does not spare even the defenseless and reaps innocent victims."

He called for easier access to help refugees and for "dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict."

Benedict prayed that God "grant Israelis and Palestinians courage to end long years of conflict and division, and to embark resolutely on the path to negotiation."

Hours earlier, in the ancient Bethlehem church built over the site where tradition holds Jesus was born, candles illuminated the sacred site and the joyous sound of prayer filled its overflowing halls.

Overcast skies and a cold wind in the Holy Land didn't dampen the spirits of worshippers in the biblical West Bank town. Bells pealed and long lines formed inside the fourth-century Church of the Nativity complex as Christian faithful waited to see the grotto that is Jesus' traditional birthplace.

Duncan Hardock, 24, a writer from MacLean, Va., traveled to Bethlehem from the republic of Georgia, where he had been teaching English. After passing through the separation barrier Israel built to ward off West Bank attackers, he walked to Bethlehem's Manger Square where the church stands.

"I feel we got to see both sides of Bethlehem in a really short period of time," Hardock said. "On our walk from the wall, we got to see the lonesome, closed side of Bethlehem. ... But the moment we got into town, we're suddenly in the middle of the party."

Bethlehem lies 6 miles south of Jerusalem. Entry to the city is controlled by Israel, which occupied the West Bank in 1967.

For those who couldn't fit into the cavernous Bethlehem church, a loudspeaker outside broadcast the Christmas day service to hundreds of faithful in the square.

Their Palestinian hosts, who welcome this holiday as the high point of their city's year, were especially joyous this season, proud of the United Nations' recognition of an independent state of Palestine just last month.

Israel, backed by the United States, opposed the Palestinian statehood bid, saying it was a ploy to bypass negotiations, something the Palestinians deny. Talks stalled four years ago.

Back at the Vatican, Benedict offered encouragement to countries after the Arab spring of democracy protests. He had a special word for Egypt, "blessed by the childhood of Jesus."

Without citing the tumultuous politics and clashes in the region, he urged the North African region to build societies "founded on justice and respect for the dignity of every person."

Benedict prayed for the return of peace in Mali and harmony in Nigeria, where, he recalled "savage acts of terrorism continue to reap victims, particularly among Christians." He also recalled the problems of refugees from fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo and decried brutal attacks hitting places of worship in Kenya.

The Vatican for decades has been worried about the well-being of its flock in China, who are loyal to the pope in defiance of the communist's government support of an officially sponsored church, and relations between Beijing and the Holy See are often tense.

Speaking about China's newly installed regime leaders, Benedict expressed hope that "they will esteem the contribution of the religions, in respect for each other, in such a way that they can help to build a fraternal society for the benefit of that noble people and of the whole world."

Acknowledging Latin America's predominant Christian population, he urged government leaders to carry out commitments to development and to fighting organized crime.

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Gunman Killed Firemen With Bushmaster, Left Note

A convicted killer, who shot dead two firefighters with a Bushmaster assault rifle after leading them into an ambush when they responded to a house fire he set in Western New York, left behind a typewritten note saying he wanted to "do what I like doing best, killing people," police said.

William Spengler, 62, set his home and a car on fire early Monday morning with the intention of setting a trap to kill firefighters and to see "how much of the neighborhood I can burn down," according to the note he wrote and which police found at the scene. The note did not give a reason for his actions.

Spengler, who served 18 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1981, hid Monday morning in a small ditch beside a tree overlooking the sleepy lakeside street in Webster, N.Y., where he lived with his sister, police said today in a news conference.

That woman, Cheryl Spengler, 67, remains missing and may also have been killed, police said.

As firefighters arrived on the scene after a 5:30 a.m. 911 call on the morning of Christmas Eve, Spengler opened fire on them with the Bushmaster, the same semi-automatic, military-style weapon used in the Dec. 14 rampage killing of 20 children in Newtown, Conn.

"This was a clear ambush on first responders… Spengler had armed himself heavily and taken area of cover," said Gerald Pickering, the chief of the Webster Police Department.

Armed with a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver, a Mossman 12-gauge shotgun, and the Bushmaster, Spengler killed two firefighters, and injured two more as well as an off-duty police officer at the scene.

As a convicted felon, Spengler could not legally own a firearm and police are investigating how he obtained the weapons.

One firefighter tried to take cover in his fire engine and was killed with a gunshot through the windshield, Pickering said.

Responding police engaged in a gunfight with Spengler, who ultimately died, likely by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

As police engaged the gunman, more houses along Lake Ontario were engulfed, ultimately razing seven of them.

SWAT teams were forced to evacuate residents using armored vehicles.

Police identified the two slain firefighter as Lt. Michael Chiapperini, a 20-year veteran of the Webster Police Department and "lifetime firefighter," according to Pickering, and Tomasz Kaczowka, who also worked as a 911 dispatcher.

Two other firefighters were wounded and remain the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y.

Joseph Hofsetter was shot once. He sustained an injury to his pelvis and has "a long road to recovery," said Dr. Nicole A. Stassen, a trauma physician.

The second firefighter, Theodore Scardino, was shot twice and received injuries to his left shoulder and left lung, as well as a knee.

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Syria envoy seeks peace as clashes rage

BEIRUT (Reuters) - International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi pursued mediation efforts in Damascus on Tuesday, but there was no pause in the bloodletting as Syrian Christians marked a bleak Christmas Day with prayers for peace.

"We are here in a cave that symbolizes Syria right now," said a priest standing beside a nativity scene in a grotto.

"It is cold here but the door is open to all refugees," he told Syrian state TV. "Amid the hunger, cold and deprivation, we still have hope for peace and love for our country."

More than 44,000 Syrians have been killed since a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad erupted 21 months ago, igniting an increasingly sectarian conflict that broadly pits a Sunni Muslim majority against Assad's Alawite minority.

Christians, many of whom have been reluctant to join what they see as an Islamist-tinged insurgency, feel threatened.

Bishop John Kawak, speaking on state TV, said the Christmas holiday was "a symbol for the rebirth of the nation". He condemned "terrorism", the government's term for the rebellion.

Brahimi met some dissidents who are tolerated by Assad but rejected by the mainstream opposition and by rebels fighting to oust him, a day after he held talks with the Syrian president.

There was no word on any progress in the U.N.-Arab League' envoy's drive to end violence that has intensified in recent months as Assad uses airpower and artillery against rebel gains.

Raja Naser, secretary general of the National Coordination Body, said after meeting Brahimi that the envoy planned a week of meetings in Damascus and would stay until Sunday.

"There is still a lot of concern but there is also great hope that these meetings with other Syrian officials will result in some agreements or positive developments," he said.

But most opposition groups appear frustrated with Brahimi's quest for a deal on a transitional government. He has not clarified any role for Assad, whose foes say he must simply go, arguing that too much blood has been shed for any other outcome.

GULF PLEA

Gulf Arab leaders, who have long called for Assad's removal and some of whom have helped the rebels with guns and money, urged swift world action to halt the "massacres" and violations of international law in Syria.

The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes and government shelling in hotspots across the country, including towns on the eastern outskirts of Damascus.

Abu Nidal, a spokesman for the Rebel Military Council in Damascus, said fighters had killed the head of a local security branch in the capital's suburb of Jaramana, home to a large Christian and Druze population.

In his Christmas message to the world on Tuesday, Pope Benedict encouraged Syrians not to lose hope for peace.

"May peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict which does not spare even the defenseless and reaps innocent victims," he said.

"I appeal for an end to the bloodshed, easier access for the relief of refugees and the displaced, and dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict."

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have fled abroad to escape the daily violence. Those who remain face severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentials as winter weather takes a grip.

Syrian activists offered a message of solidarity with Christians despite rising tensions in central Hama province, where rebels have demanded that Christian villages let them enter to force out the army and pro-Assad "shabbiha" militias.

"We say to the Christians, you are our brothers and our beloved, and your holiday is our holiday," said Abu Faisal, a Hama activist who posted a Christmas message on the Internet.

"The rebels are surrounding (the Christian town) Muhardeh to get rid of Assad's soldiers and shabbiha, but we have not forgotten your honorable stance when you took care of our refugees when the army entered Hama," he said.

"We will not accept that you are targeted by hatred, you are our brothers and our friends."

(Additional reporting by Philip Pullela in Vatican City and Asma Alsharif in Manama)

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Up to 27 feared dead in Kazakh plane crash

ALMATY, Kazakhstan: A military aircraft carrying 27 people including top members of the Kazakhstan border guard service crashed Tuesday in the south of the country with all those on board feared dead, officials said.

The KNB security service said the An-72 military transport was carrying seven crew and 20 servicemen, including the acting head of the Kazakh border service Turganbek Stambekov.

The plane crashed 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Shymkent airport where it had been due to land after a flight from the capital Astana.

Kazakhstan's KTK television said that the plane fell from a height of 800 metres (2,600 feet) and the weather around the airport at the time was very poor.

Eyewitness Baurzhan Dosov whose home is near the crash area told state television that he heard a noise like an explosion and then witnessed a scene of carnage.

"There are military hats everywhere and pieces of human flesh. Just like meat. The fire is still blazing," he said.

A security source told the Interfax news agency that all those on board were killed and KTK also reported that according to its latest information there were no survivors.

But this was not confirmed in the KNB statement.

"The emergency services are working at the scene of the incident. An investigation is in progress," the KNB said, without giving more details.

The security source quoted by Interfax said that according to initial information there were no survivors.

Aviation disasters remain a scourge across the former Soviet Union due to ageing hardware that often has not been replaced since the fall of the Soviet regime as well as human error.

The Kazakh border guard service was already hit this year by tragedy with the killing of 14 of its servicemen in May at a border post in the remote Tian Shan mountains.

A border guard, Vladislav Chelakh, 20, was this month sentenced to life in prison for the killings but the defence argued he was being made a scapegoat for security failings higher up.

-AFP/ac

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Why startups shouldn't be afraid of Facebook cloning them

It'll take more than a Poke to knock out Snapchat.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Ben Parr/CNET)

How long does it take a multibillion-dollar technology juggernaut to clone a popular social networking app? The answer: less than two weeks.

I am, of course, talking about Poke, Facebook's clone of Snapchat, the app whose messages self-destruct after 1 to 10 seconds. As many people like to point out, it's perfect for sexting, but there are a lot of other fun and innovative uses for this clever type of messaging.

For all intents and purposes, Poke is almost identical to Snapchat. Snapchat is focused on photos and videos, while Poke adds self-destructing messages and the classic Facebook poke feature to its arsenal. Poke relies entirely on your Facebook friend network, while Snapchat can dig into your contacts and let you share (sexy) photos with strangers.

One key difference: Snapchat already has a loyal user base that sends more than 50 million photos across its network every day, with many of its users teenagers. But Poke is quickly catching up. Within a day of its release, the app rocketed up the iOS charts to become the No. 1 free app in the App Store (it's now at No. 3). Snapchat currently occupies the No. 7 spot.

It's an impressive feat to hit No. 1 in the App Store, even for the world's largest social network. Facebook, unlike other giants, has the ability to quickly approve, build, and release products. The fact that it took just 12 days for this app to become a reality is simply mind-boggling.

Big players entering your market doesn't equal Armageddon

Should entrepreneurs just give up on their app ideas, simply because Facebook could eventually clone them and crush them with a billion users? Of course not, and anybody who thinks that Facebook (or any other big company) cloning a startup's product spells Armageddon for that startup doesn't know what they're talking about.

Remember when Facebook tried to make a Foursquare competitor? How about the time it tried to make a Groupon competitor, and it went nowhere? The same is true of its Quora competitor (Facebook Questions) and even its Craigslist competitor (Facebook Marketplace).

I could go on and on, but the point is clear: a big company launching a clone can be scary, but it doesn't mean Armageddon. There are two other factors to consider: defensibility and vision.

Remember Facebook Questions? It sure didn't stop Quora.

(Credit:
Facebook)

Defensibility

As I have previously explained in depth, a product's defensibility comes from either its technology or its traction. Technology startups' products aren't easy to clone because they have proprietary technology that even the big companies don't have. Just imagine AltaVista trying to clone Google -- it wouldn't have succeeded.

The other type of startup is the traction startup, whose product is defensible because it has a growing network of engaged users. Why use a new social network or app, even one from a large company, if your friends aren't using it?

Instagram is a prime example. There were dozens of photo-sharing apps, but only one with large-scale traction. Facebook knew that Instagram's was so strong that it posed a threat to Facebook itself, so it did the only sensible thing it could: it bought the company.

Snapchat's current users aren't going to immediately abandon the app for Facebook's Poke. They've built up friends, messages, and a history on Snapchat, and they will continue to invite their friends to join. Poke's launch could affect user growth as potential users may choose it over Snapchat, but Poke also brings a lot more attention to the market and may end up boosting Snapchat's growth. How both apps perform in the App Store over the next few weeks will give us a better idea of Facebook's impact on Snapchat.

Defensibility matters, though it's always better if you have proprietary technology that even Facebook can't clone.

Vision

The other thing that people seem to be forgetting in the Poke vs. Snapchat debate is the long-term vision and commitment each team has to its respective products.

Snapchat's founders have been at this since May 2011. They've had time to think about the road map for their product, and they don't have dozens of other products and projects to distract them. Snapchat's founders reportedly turned down an acquisition offer from Facebook. They wouldn't do that if they didn't have a long-term plan they were confident in.

Poke, on the other hand, is essentially a two-week hackathon project led by Zuckerberg and product guru Blake Ross. I doubt they've had time to develop a long-term road map for the product. It's not even clear whether they're going to keep working on the app or simply let it languish in the App Store. Will Zuckerberg divert engineers and resources to developing Poke for the long haul? I doubt he's even thought about it.

I don't know what Snapchat's long-term vision is, but I bet it involves more than photo messages that disappear after 5 seconds. You can bet Snapchat will come fighting back with new features soon, though. Will Facebook care enough to respond? Perhaps. Will Facebook continue development on Poke for the next two or three years in order to keep up with Snapchat? I personally doubt it.

Final thoughts

My point is this: it takes a lot more than a clone to take out a scrappy startup. It also takes a long-term commitment by a juggernaut. For Facebook to take out Snapchat, it will have to constantly add features to Poke and find ways to either contain Snapchat's growth or chip away at its core user base. This is easier said than done, even for a company like Facebook.

Don't be afraid of the juggernaut entering your market, entrepreneurs. If you have a long-term vision, focus on defensibility and build faster than the competition, you'll eventually become the juggernaut.

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Police in India clamp down on protests over gang rape

Even as Indian Prime Minster Manmohan Singh appealed for calm after violent weekend protests over the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi, police in the nation's capital were enforcing a complete clampdown.

Prime Minister Singh urged calm and vowed to protect women as police struggled Monday to quell increasing outrage over sex crimes, following the gang-rape of a student on a bus on Dec. 16.

"There is genuine and justified anger and anguish at this ghastly incident," Singh said in a televised speech."

"We are constantly monitoring her medical condition. Let us all pray for her and her loved ones during this critical time" Singh added.

In light of the protests, the venue of the meeting between Singh and visiting Russian President Vladimar Putin was shifted to the prime minister's residence.

Usually, such meetings are held in Hyderabad House, which is close to India Gate, the scene of protests in the last two days.

The entire central square of India Gate circle and Raisina Hill was cordoned off and a heavy police presence was being maintained on all roads leading to India Gate and other areas of central New Delhi, in an effort to keep protestors away.

Media members have been asked to keep away from the area, to try to stop relentless coverage of the protests.

Earlier in the morning, a number of protesters who had stayed put at India Gate were cleared out. The young demonstrators, who spent a chilly night in the open after they fought a pitched battle with police throughout Sunday, were put on a bus by police.

The government also announced the establishment of a special committee made up of former judges to look into possible changes in the law to provide for quicker trials for suspects and enhanced punishment for those convicted of sexual assault of an extreme nature against women.

Meanwhile, the victim was put back on the ventilator as she battled for her life at a local hospital. Her condition remained critical, though she was conscious and communicating. Her platelet condition has dipped further -- an indication of infection.

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4 Firefighters Shot, 2 Killed in NY 'Trap'

Two firefighters were shot and killed and two others hospitalized after a gunman targeted them as they responded to a fire he is believed to have set to a home and a car in Webster, N.Y., police said.

"It does appear that it was a trap that was set for first responders," Police Chief Gerald L. Pickering said.

SWAT team officers used an armored personnel carrier to evacuate 33 residents from homes in the area.

"Upon arrival all [the firefighters] drew fire, all four were shot on the scene," Pickering said. "One was able to flee the scene. The other three were pinned down."

An off-duty police officer responding to the call was also injured by shrapnel and was being treated.

Pickering said the gunman was dead at the scene, but had yet to be identified. The shooter died of a gunshot wound, but police didn't yet know if "it was self inflicted or not."

Firefighters continued to fight the blaze that engulfed three other homes and damaged three more on a sleepy street next to Lake Ontario that police described as a quiet vacation community.

Police had not yet determined the "weapon or weapons" the gunman used and had not fully investigated the scene because the fires continued to rage.

"I know many people are going to be asking if they were assault rifles," Pickering said, following a week-long debate about such weapons after one was used in a tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14.

Among the dead firefighters was Lt. Michael Chiapperini, a 20-year veteran of the Webster Police Department and "lifetime firefighter," according to Pickering. Chiapperini was a spokesman for the police department, ABC News affiliate WHAM reported.

Police identified the other firefighter killed as Tomasz Kaczowka, who WHAM reported also was a 911 dispatcher.

The chief, choking up, called the incident that shattered the quiet before 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning "terrible."

"People get up in the middle of the night to fight fires," he said. "They don't expect to get shot and killed."

Two surviving firefighters were in the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y. Both men were awake and breathing on their own after surgery and were in what doctors are calling "guarded condition."

Joseph Hofsetter was shot once and sustained an injury to his pelvis and has "a long road to recovery," said Dr. Nicole A. Stassen, a trauma physician.

The second firefighter, Theodore Scardino, was shot twice and received injuries to his left shoulder and left lung, as well as a knee.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a statement calling the attack a "senseless act of violence" and the first responders "true heroes."

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Afghan policewoman kills coalition contractor in Kabul: NATO

KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan woman wearing a police uniform shot dead on Monday a civilian contractor working for Western forces in the police chief's compound in Kabul, NATO said.

The incident is likely to raise troubling questions about the direction of an unpopular war.

It appeared to be the first time that a woman member of Afghanistan's security forces carried out such an attack.

There were conflicting reports about the victim.

A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said a U.S. police adviser was killed by an Afghan policewoman. Then ISAF said in a statement only that it was a "contracted civilian employee" who was killed.

Mohammad Zahir, head of the police criminal investigation department, described the incident as an "insider attack" in which Afghan forces turn their weapons on Western troops they are supposed to be working with. He initially said the victim was a U.S. soldier.

After more than 10 years of war, militants are capable of striking Western targets in the heart of the capital, and foreign forces worry that Afghan police and military forces they are supposed to work with can suddenly turn on them.

The policewoman approached her victim as he was walking in the heavily guarded police chief's compound in a bustling area of Kabul. She then drew a pistol and shot him once, a senior police official told Reuters.

The police complex is close to the Interior Ministry where in February, two American officers were shot dead at close range at a time anger gripped the country over the burning of copies of the Muslim holy book at a NATO base.

"She is now under interrogation. She is crying and saying 'what have I done'," said the official, of the police officer who worked in a section of the Interior Ministry responsible for gender awareness issues.

TIPS FOR TROOPS

The insider incidents, also known as green-on-blue attacks, have undermined trust between coalition and Afghan forces who are under mounting pressure to contain the Taliban insurgency before most NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014.

Security responsibilities in a country plagued by conflict for decades will be handed to Afghan security forces.

Many Afghans fear a civil war like one dominated by warlords after the withdrawal of Soviet occupying forces in 1989 could erupt again, or the Taliban will make another push to seize power if they reject a nascent peace process.

At least 52 members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force have been killed this year by Afghans wearing police or army uniforms.

Insider attacks now account for one in every five combat deaths suffered by NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, and 16 percent of all U.S. combat casualties, according to 2012 data.

Hoping to stop the increase in the attacks, Afghan Defense Ministry officials have given their troops tips in foreign culture.

They are told not to be offended by a hearty pat on the back or an American soldier asking after your wife's health.

NATO attributes only about a quarter of the attacks to the Taliban, saying the rest are caused by personal grievances and misunderstandings. Last year, there were 35 deaths in such attacks.

Afghan forces are vulnerable to "insider attacks" of their own. In Jawzjan province in the north, a police commander shot and killed five comrades overnight, the Interior Ministry said.

Last year, he defected from the Taliban, said the ministry.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the commander had rejoined the Taliban. That could not be confirmed.

(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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