Ten policemen and a suspected Taleban fighter have been killed in clashes between government forces and militants in southern Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday. On Tuesday night in Helmand province six policemen and a militant were killed in a Taleban attack bringing the death toll in the troubled south to 11 over last day. Some 460 kilometers south of Kabul, Taleban insurgents attacked a police post in Helmand's Kajaki district, provincial deputy governor Haji Mawin told AFP.
"Six police were killed and the Taleban left one dead body as they fled. The Taleban have fled to the mountains and we are chasing them," he added.
In a separate attack earlier on Tuesday, four Afghan policemen were killed and five others including a district police chief were injured when their vehicle struck a home-made bomb in Uruzgan province in south-central Afghanistan.
"A remote-controlled explosion killed four police and injured five other policemen including the Shora district police chief," Uruzgan police chief, Rozi Khan told AFP.
Militants have been waging a guerrilla campaign from strongholds in the mountainous terrain of Helmand and the neighbouring provinces of Uruzgan, Kandahar and Zabul.
Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul share long mountainous borders with Pakistani tribal areas where the Taleban and their al Qeada allies are believed to be taking refuge.