Taliban insurgents killed a police commander along with seven others following an overnight clash in southern Afghanistan, while an Afghan journalist was killed in a bomb blast in eastern part of the country. Provincial officials said commander Safa Jan was on his way home along with others, when they were ambushed by insurgents on the Lashkargah-Baghran Highway. The clash occurred in the Zarkhak area, said Mohiuddin, secretary to the provincial governor. He added, the commander and his body-guards were killed in the clash that lasted several hours.Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack saying they had killed 10 policemen during the exchange of fire. The Taliban suffered no losses in the fight, said the spokesman. But the Afghan Interior Ministry claimed four insurgents were also killed in the firefight. Stanizai, spokesman for the ministry, said beside the four killed, another key commander Mullah Shahzada was injured but he managed to flee. He added fresh contingents had been deployed in the area to arrest the attackers.
A bomb blast in a military vehicle in Khost province killed an Afghan journalist and wounded three soldiers, officials said. Sadiq Tarakhail, a senior provincial police officer said the journalist was standing on a road when the remote-controlled bomb went off. The journalist was identified as Mewand, while the injured also included son of an eminent pro-government commander.