KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — The Afghan government said Thursday that seven policemen were killed when militants stormed their post in the troubled south, while nearly three dozen militants died in various clashes.
The attacks were part of a tide of extremist-linked violence that has gripped Afghanistan for years as insurgents try to bring down the government that replaced the hardline Taliban regime ousted in 2001.
The policemen were killed in an attack late Wednesday on their post near Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, provincial government spokesman Daud Ahmadi told AFP.
"We lost seven police officers. Two others were injured," he said.
Helmand, the main producer of Afghanistan's huge output of opium, is one of the provinces where the Taliban are most active and control a handful of districts.
Authorities say about 800 members of the Afghan security forces, the bulk of them police, have lost their lives in insurgency-linked unrest since the start of the year.
More than 150 international soldiers have also died, mostly in attacks.
Afghan government officials also reported that three dozen Taliban had been killed in various clashes with security forces overnight, including in Helmand, neighbouring Kandahar and the western province of Badghis.
It is impossible to independently verify the tolls since the fighting mostly occurs in remote and dangerous areas.
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