Taliban kill six police

Monitoring Desk

KANDAHAR: Gunmen, believed to be Taliban fighters, killed six police and seized numerous others including police and passengers in southern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.

The Taliban gunmen stopped vehicles on Kandahar-Uruzgan highway in the Urdu Balagh area and kidnapped 30 passengers, Dost Muhammad Nayab, spokesman of Uruzgan governor, told Afghan media.

He said the kidnapped people whose identity was unclear were shifted to unknown location and their fate was unclear, he said, adding efforts were on to free them.

General Abdul Raziq, police chief neighboring Kandahar province, told AIP that the incident took place in the Surkh Bed area of Kandahar’s Shah Walikot district when Taliban seized 19 people including police and civilians.

Moments before kidnapping the police and civilians, the Taliban attacked a police post in Sabzi Karez area between Uruzgan and Kandahar province, killing six cops and wounding five more, he said.

He said the Taliban suffered casualties but they had no accurate count.

Taking advantage of security forces’ engagement in the clash, General Raziq said, the Taliban wearing Afghan National Army (ANA) uniform plucked 19 passengers from vehicles and shifted them to unknown location.

There was no word by Taliban in this regard. The Taliban often stop vehicles on highways and search vehicles for security men. Mostly they seize the security men or government officials and release civilians.