Police under attack; 3 more killed in Helmand

LASHKARGAH (PAN): A roadside bombing killed three policemen, the fourth deadly attack by insurgents against the force in the past 48 hours, in the southern province of Helmand on Monday, an official said.

Another two policemen were injured in the latest explosion that ripped through their vehicle in the Taliban-infested Marja district, the governor’s spokesman said.

The policemen, escorting a convoy of vehicles carrying the district chief, came under attack in the Shanghazak area.

Earlier this month, the interior minister said Afghan police, hit by recruitment problems and lack of military support, lost 15 men daily to the ongoing fight against terrorism.

Since Saturday, 23 police have been killed across the country, a level of violence that casts doubts over the ability of the 350,000-strong Afghan forces to keep security after most NATO-led troops are withdrawn by the end of next year.

Eight policemen were lost to a similar incident in neighbouring Kandahar province late on Saturday.

That blast came hours after 10 police officers, including the provincial counter-terrorism chief, were killed in an attack in northern Kunduz province. Another two police were killed in a bombing in southern Ghazni province.

Meanwhile, the Taliban claimed three foreign troops were killed in attacks in the Greshk town and the Baba Jee area on the outskirts of Lashkargah.

Elsewhere, three children suffered shrapnel injuries when a hidden mine went off in the Nawzad district, the town’s administrative chief said.

Syed Murad Agha said the brothers were walking on a road in the Karez area late on Sunday when one of them stepped on the device, causing the blast.

They were taken to a foreign troops’ heath facility in the area, the district chief said, adding one of the children was said to be in a critical condition.

Resident Ali Ahmad said that father of the children was a policeman. However, there has been no word from the Taliban about the blast.

ma/mud

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