Afghan official: 9 Taliban killed, 3 police wounded in gunfight

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A shootout between police and Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan left nine militants dead and three police seriously wounded, a government official said Sunday. The Taliban attacked a police checkpoint in Gereshk district Saturday, sparking a two-hour gunbattle, said Dawood Ahmadi, the provincial governor's spokesman. Six other Taliban were wounded in the clash, he said. Police captured two of the wounded militants and were in pursuit of the other four, Ahmadi said. Elsewhere Saturday, US-led coalition forces killed three insurgents and captured four others in a clash outside the capital, the US military said. The troops were pursuing members of a group led by warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar when they came under fire in Kapisa province, the military said in a statement Sunday. The soldiers returned fire, killing the militants.