Kabul, August 12: At least four police officers, including a police district chief, have been killed in a Taliban ambush in northern Afghanistan.
Taliban militants stormed the police headquarters in Dasht-e-Archi district in the northern province of Kunduz late Tuesday.
The attack, which led to a four-hour gunbattle into the early hours of Wednesday in Kunduz, is the latest in a wave of rising violence a week before the presidential election that militants have vowed to disrupt.
Dasht-e-Archi police chief, Noor Khan, who is also the brother of provincial governor Mohammad Omar, and his three bodyguards were among the five killed in Taliban attack on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately our brave officer along with his three loyal bodyguards were killed in the attack, but the Taliban escaped from the area before reinforcements were deployed,” Shaikh Sahdi, administrator of Dasht-e-Archi told DPA news agency.
The province, north of the Hindu Kush mountains and far from the southern war zone, has been largely quiet since Taliban militants were driven from power in 2001, but has seen escalating attacks in recent months.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that Taliban overran the whole district for a few hours before withdrawing to their bases in the province. He claimed that 10 policemen, including Khan, were killed in the attack.
—–Agencies