Press TV / September 26, 2017
Twin bomb attacks and a gun fight have claimed the lives of at least six policemen in Afghanistan.
In the first attack, two police officers died in a roadside bombing in the western province of Herat on Tuesday. Jelani Farhad, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said three other officers were also wounded.
The spokesman said police were on a routine patrol in Ghoryan district when the bomb exploded.
Separately, three officers were killed when a bomb attack targeted their checkpoint in neighboring Farah province. Mohammad Naser Mehri, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said militants attacked the checkpoint and triggered a gun fight that lasted for two hours.
No group has claimed responsibility for the deadly bombings but officials in both provinces blamed the Taliban militants.
A sixth policeman died in a gun fight with the Taliban militants in Khoja Ghor district of the northern province of Takhar. Rahmatullah Khan, a local police chief, confirmed that six Taliban militants were also killed.
The Taliban claimed its militants had seized several checkpoints in the district. Khan, however, said government forces were able to push back the militants and regain control of the security checkpoints.
Many parts of Afghanistan remain insecure years after the United States invaded the country in 2001. Even though some 13,000 NATO soldiers, most of them from the US, are still stationed in the country, locals and security personnel as well as checkpoints are attacked every once in a while.
The Taliban militants have warned that they will be stepping up attacks until the foreign forces fully withdraw from Afghanistan.
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