At least nine policemen were killed after Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint in Afghanistan Helmand province on Saturday, a security official said.
The insurgents carried out the attack on the checkpoint along the Kandahar-Herat highway in Nahr-e-Saraj district, the official told dpa news agency.
However, provincial police spokesman Mohammad Zaman Hamdard told reporters that only three policemen, including a senior official, were killed and two others wounded during the clashes.
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The attack was carried out by two “infiltrator mujahideen”, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said in a statement, adding that all weapons and equipment at the checkpoint were seized.
Despite ongoing peace talks between the representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, violence continues in the country.
The intra-Afghan peace talks have made no tangible progress, and the insurgent group has threatened to resume attacks against the US and NATO forces stationed in the country if they do not withdraw from Afghanistan by May 1.
The deadline is part of an agreement the US administration under former President Donald Trump signed with the Taliban last year.
It is now under review by the new US administration.
Under the deal, the US promised to withdraw all US and international forces from Afghanistan.
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In return, the Taliban vowed to cut ties with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
SOURCE-IANS
