Taliban fighters stormed multiple security outposts in southern Afghanistan early on Sunday, killing at least 20 policemen, officials said.
“This morning, a group of Taliban fighters armed with heavy and light weapons launched coordinated attacks on several police checkpoints in Shah Joy district of Zabul province, killing 20 policemen,” provincial governor Bismillah Afghanmal said.Second attack on a police check post in Muqur wounded four police.The victims were members of the 18,000-strong Afghan Local Police, a village-level force formed in 2010 to provide security in areas where the national police and army are scarce.
Also yesterday, four Afghan border police were killed when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb in eastern Nangarhar province on the Pakistan border.
"Today at about 10am, a border police pick-up truck hit a roadside bomb while on patrol in Mohamand Dara district of Nangarhar province," said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, the Nangarhar provincial governor spokesman.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for both attacks.
Afghan security forces are increasingly on the front line and suffering heavier casualties, as Nato troops prepare to withdraw by the end of next year.
