Nine police killed in Taliban attacks in Afghanistan

Kabul: Eight police officers were killed when Taliban fighters stormed a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, while a senior police official died in a bomb blast in the east of the country, officials said Saturday. In the southern Helmand province, one of the main strongholds of the resurgent Taliban, eight policemen were killed Friday night in a raid by the Taliban near the provincial capital Lashkargah. Provincial governor's spokesman Daud Ahmadi told the German Press Agency dpa that the militants stormed a police checkpoint some 10 kilometers north of Lashkargah around midnight, killing eight police whilst several others are missing. Helmand is one of the most restive provinces in Afghanistan, with increasing battles between the Taliban and foreign and Afghan forces. Elsehwhere, a senior local police official and his bodyduard were killed in a roadside bomb blast in the eastern Laghman province Saturday morning. Provincial police chief Abdul Karim said the deputy police chief of the neighbouring Kunar province was on holiday in Laghman and was walking near his home when a bomb planted under a bridge exploded. 'The remote-controlled bomb was placed under a small bridge some 200 metres from Zar Jan's home and it went off as he was roaming around with his bodyguards,' said Karim, adding that three other bodyguards were also wounded in the blast. In other security developments, four civilians were killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand province, a statement from the interior ministry said. The civilians were traveling in a jeep in Grishk district on Friday as their vehicle was hit by a bomb, killing four people and wounding two, the statement issued on Saturday said. Violence has been on the raise in recent weeks as Afghanistan is preparing for the presidential election set for August 20. The Taliban have vowed to disrupt the elections and have stepped up their attacks across the country.