Taliban raids kill 20 police officers

Attacks on Afghan checkpoints in south of country

KANDAHAR // Twenty Afghan policemen were killed and more were feared dead after Taliban militants stormed security checkpoints in the southern province of Zabul, as the insurgents stepped up their annual spring offensive.

Gul Islam Seyal, spokesman for the governor in Zabul, yesterday said the battles began on Saturday when militants launched coordinated attacks on posts in the Shah Joy district.

At least 10 other security forces, including national and local policemen, were wounded, Mr Seyal said.

Officials called television stations to raise the alarm as they were unable to contact authorities for help, highlighting the disarray in security.

The attack is another blow to Nato-backed Afghan forces. It came a month after the Taliban killed 135 security personnel in northern Balkh province, in the deadliest insurgent attack yet on an Afghan military base.

A district official said that at least 15 others were wounded.

The Taliban claimed responsibility on their website for the attack. The raid underscored the insurgents’ growing strength more than 15 years since they were ousted from power after the US invasion of 2001.

Also yesterday, authorities said a German woman and an Afghan security guard were killed, and a Finnish woman kidnapped from a Kabul guesthouse overnight.

Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the interior ministry, said the killings took place at 11.30pm on Saturday.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack or the kidnapping.

Karoliina Romanoff, spokeswoman for the Finnish foreign ministry, confirmed that a Finnish citizen was kidnapped.

The foreign ministry said it had demanded “the immediate release of the kidnapped person”.

Scott Breslin, a worker at Sweden-based organisation Operation Mercy, said that one of its workers was missing.

Operation Mercy works with Afghan communities in areas such as reducing infant mortality and the empowerment of women.

The attack underscores growing insecurity in Afghanistan.

The kidnapping of foreigners has been increasing, but the threat of abductions is even greater among Afghans.