Police among 24 dead in Helmand clashes

LASHKARGAH (PAJHWOK): At least 22 militants and two policemen have been killed in different security incidents in southern Helmand province, the police spokesman said on Thursday.

Farid Ahmad Obaid told Pajhwok Afghan News the militants stormed a police posts in Sangin district late Wednesday night. The ensuing gunbattle left two policemen and six militants dead.

Four policemen were also wounded in the firefight. Another security official, wishing not to be named, said the insurgents did not attack the police post but a police official turned his gun on his colleagues, killing six of them.

Soon after the incident, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed credit for the attack and said a militant sympathiser in the police force had shot dead six colleagues.

In another incident, police said six guerrillas were killed and a seventh wounded in during a clash with Afghan forces in the Choghak area of Sangin district.

Col. Obaid said the militants’ bodies were still lying in the area. Hikmatullah Haqmal, the Greshk district police chief, said 10 fighters had perished in an operation in the district.

qs/rm/mud

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