Asia-Pacific

Afghan official: 8 policemen killed at checkpoint

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-14 16:36

Afghan official: 8 policemen killed at checkpoint
This undated handout picture shows Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden (centre) at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan. [Agencies]

KABUL: Militants killed eight Afghan policemen during an attack Monday on a checkpoint in northeast Afghanistan.

The militants attacked the members of the Aghan National Police before dawn in Baghlan province, provincial Gov. Mohammad Akbar Barakzai said.

"The policemen who were killed in the attack were on duty to provide security for the military convoys and local people in the main highway in Baghlan province," Barakzai said.

The deputy police chief in the province, Zalmai Mangal, said two militants were killed and another was injured in a gunfight that occurred after the policemen were killed. Policemen at another highway checkpoint nearby rushed to the scene, but arrived after the militants had escaped, he said.

Separately on Monday, NATO said an Afghan-international security force detained a weapons smuggler and a small group of other militants in Khost province in eastern Afghanistan. The suspect allegedly worked with the al-Qaida linked Haqqani network of militants.

The Haqqani network of Afghan fighters directs the battle against US forces in eastern Afghanistan from the Waziristan tribal region in Pakistan. NATO said the suspect surrendered to the joint force at a compound in the Sabari district of Khost province.

In southern Afghanistan, NATO said an Afghan-international security force detained a Taliban weapons smuggler and a couple of other militants in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province.

No shots were fired and no one was injured in either operation.