6 police killed in clashes, bombing in Afghanistan

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Clashes and a bombing killed six policemen in Afghanistan on Wednesday, while a blast in the east killed a suspected would-be suicide bomber, officials said. Militants attacked a police patrol in Muqur district of central Ghazni province, leaving four officers dead and two others wounded, said Maj. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. In the eastern Khost province, meanwhile, a roadside bomb hit another police vehicle, killing two officers, said Wazir Pacha, a spokesan for the provincial police chief. The attack on the police car occurred just outside the capital of Khost province as the officers traveled from their homes to work, Pacha said, adding that the powerful explosion destroyed the vehicle. Insurgents often target the police force, which is more vulnerable and exposed than the better trained and equipped Afghan national army. Over 920 police officers were killed by militants in 2007.