Eight policemen were killed in an attack early Wednesday near a southern city that is seen as a pioneer in transition from Nato to Afghan control over security, an Afghan police commander said.
Gen. Nabi Jan Mullahkhail, deputy regional commander in the south, said the predawn attack targeted a police checkpoint near Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, where the insurgency has strongholds. Three police were wounded in the attack.
Mullahkhail said another policeman who was part of the group manning the checkpoint was missing, and that authorities were investigating whether he might have been involved in the attack.
On Tuesday, a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-packed vehicle into a police truck in Lashkar Gah, killing two civilians. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
Lashkar Gah was one of five provincial capitals and two provinces chosen to start the transition from Nato to Afghan control this summer. The international coalition hopes to use the security zone around the provincial capital and the central Helmand River Valley as a foothold to push Afghan governance into outlying areas. Nato plans to withdraw combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
Also Wednesday, a New Zealand special forces soldier was killed during a gun battle with suspected insurgents in a compound near Afghanistan's capital.
Lt. Gen. Rhys Jones, the chief of New Zealand's defence force, said the soldier was shot in the head and died soon after at a medical facility. Jones said the soldier was part of a team of 15 supporting about 50 Afghan police trying to serve arrest and search warrants on a group suspected of planning an attack on Kabul.
Lt Gen Jones said a man and a child in the compound were injured during the battle, which was still ongoing Wednesday morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment