Kunduz (Afghanistan), Aug 12 (DPA) Taliban militants attacked a district centre in northern Afghanistan, killing four police officers including a police chief, local government officials and a rebel spokesman said Wednesday.
Noor Khan, police chief of Dasht Archi district in northern Kunduz province and brother of Mohammad Omar, the provincial governor, was killed along with his three bodyguards in a Taliban attack Tuesday night, said Shaikh Sahdi, administrative chief of Dasht Archi.
“Unfortunately our brave officer along with his three loyal bodyguards were killed in the attack, but the Taliban escaped from the area before reinforcements were deployed,” Sahdi told DPA by phone from the district.
He said the police also inflicted casualties on the Taliban, but could not provide any figures.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed that their fighters overran the whole district for a few hours before withdrawing to their bases in the province. He added that 10 policemen including Khan were killed in the attack.
Northern Afghanistan used to be the safest region in the country until 2007 but has seen a surge in Taliban-led attacks.
Hundreds of Taliban militants returned to their former bases after they were driven from two districts in the province by Afghan and German forces.
The 10-day operation involving some 300 German troops and nearly 1,000 Afghan soldiers cleared Chardarah district, the main hotbed for Taliban in the province, and left some 17 insurgents dead.
But the militants came back to the district after the joint operation ended late last month, posing a serious threat to the Aug 20 presidential election.
Around 4,000 German troops are stationed in the northern region.
