Police slaughtered

HERAT: Taliban fighters attacked Afghan bases in the western province of Farah, killing more than 30 police, as the insurgents stepped up their offensive in a region with vital opium smuggling routes into neighbouring Iran.

Farid Bakhtawar, head of the Farah provincial council, said fighters had stormed a police base overnight in Balabuluk, a district that has been under heavy pressure for months, killing at least 23 and wounding three.

In Farah city, Taliban fighters killed 11 police.

A report by SIGAR, a US watchdog, said the number of Afghan security forces personnel had fallen by 11% over a year, even as fighting has intensified. – Reuters/african News Agency (ANA)