KUNDUZ: At least nine Afghan security personnel were killed when Taliban militants attacked two police checkpoints overnight in a restive northern province, officials said Friday.

The militants launched simultaneous raids on the checkpoints in Kunduz, a region bordering Tajikistan that has seen regular clashes between the insurgents and government forces.

The fighting left nine Afghan security personnel dead, Kunduz governor Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal told AFP. The Taliban did not offer any immediate comment.

In a separate incident on Friday, the Taliban used a drone to drop a bomb on an Afghan military base in Kunduz city, army spokesman Abdul Hadi Nazari said, adding that there were no casualties.