Gunmen killed seven Afghan policemen in an ambush in the western province of Farah at the weekend, the latest in a spate of violence ahead of elections supposed to be held in September, an official said on Monday.
In a separate incident on Sunday, US forces killed five Taleban guerrillas and wounded three in the southern province of Zabul, Zabul Governor Kheyal Mohammad Husseini told Reuters.
The gunmen who attacked the policemen were wearing military uniforms when they fired on police vehicles on a road in the Del Khak area of Farah on Sunday, Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said.
Mashal said he did not know who had carried out the attack, but said it could have been the work of Taleban guerrillas or drug traffickers. "An investigation has been launched," he said.
Farah borders Iran, one of the main routes for the export of Afghanistan's massive opium and heroin output.
In April, seven policemen were killed by gunmen wearing military uniforms in another part of the province and authorities blamed remnants of the radical Taleban movement.
Farah has been regarded as one of more secure parts of Afghanistan since US-led forces overthrew the Taleban in late 2001.
The attack on the policemen follows attacks by suspected Taleban guerrillas on election workers and prospective voters in the elections in which at least 18 people have been killed since Friday.
The news came as President Hamid Karzai headed for a Nato summit in Turkey to appeal for more Nato troops to protect the polls, although the number of soldiers offered is likely to fall well short of the 5,000 or so extra soldiers he is asking for.
More than 800 people have been killed, most of them across southern and eastern Afghanistan, since August, largely in raids blamed on the Taleban and their militant allies.
The Zabul governor said five Taleban guerrillas were killed near the provincial capital of Qalat after a group of guerrillas hiding in a village fired on a US helicopter.
There was no immediate comment from the US military.
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