Taleban kill at least 17 cops in Afghanistan

kandahar — At least 17 Afghan policemen were killed Saturday when dozens of Taleban militants stormed their outpost in the country’s volatile south, the latest attack of an increasingly deadly summer fighting season.

The pre-dawn raid occurred in Helmand province as the Taleban intensify their countrywide summer offensive despite repeated government attempts to reopen peace negotiations.

“Dozens of armed Taleban attacked a police checkpoint in Musa Qala district of Helmand,” provincial police chief Nabi Jan Mullahkhil said.

“In the attack, 17 police forces were killed, and three others were wounded.”

Omar Zwak, the spokesman for the Helmand provincial governor, confirmed the death toll from the raid that occurred just after midnight.

The Taleban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they seized several weapons, ammunition and other military hardware from the checkpost.

“Our mujahedeen, armed with heavy and light weapons, attacked police checkpoint in Musa Qala district,” Taleban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said.

“In the attack, 25 police forces were killed and 13 others were wounded.”

The Taleban, who were toppled from power in a 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, are known to make exaggerated battlefield claims.

The insurgents launched a countrywide offensive in late April, stepping up attacks on government and foreign targets in what is expected to be the bloodiest fighting season in a decade.

Saturday’s attack marks another grim setback for Afghan forces, facing their first fighting season without full Nato support.

Nato’s combat mission formally ended in December but a small follow-up foreign force of about 12,500 mainly US troops has stayed on to train and support local security personnel.

Afghan authorities have repeatedly tried to jumpstart talks with the Taleban in the hope of ending the 13-year conflict, but the militants have set tough conditions, including the withdrawal of all foreign troops in Afghanistan.

In early May Taleban militants killed at least 13 policemen after storming security outposts in the remote mountainous province of Badakhshan. —