Taliban militants ambushed a checkpoint in western Afghanistan, killing at least nine policemen, officials said Friday, in the latest attack on the country's beleaguered security forces. Two other policemen were killed and four wounded by a roadside bomb en route to the checkpoint to provide backup during the hours-long assault that began late Thursday night, Herat provincial governor spokesman Jailani Farhad told AFP.
Two armoured Humvees were destroyed in the attack in Shindand district, Farhad said. The Taliban also seized weapons and ammunition during the raid, he added.
Shindand district governor Shukrullah Shakir confirmed the casualty figures. He added that the checkpoint was eight kilometres (five miles) from the district centre. The attack comes a day after Taliban fighters raided a district government compound in the southeastern province of Ghazni, killing at least seven people, including the local governor.