KANDAHAR - Three police and 12 Taleban were killed Tuesday in a gun fight that erupted after rebels ambushed a convoy of a provincial deputy governor and police chief in southern Afghanistan, an official said. Taleban militants ambushed the police convoy in Helmand province’s Baghran district, not far an area where they have been major clashes between security forces and rebels in recent days, provincial spokesman Muhaidin Khan said.“Three police were martyred and six police were wounded. Twelve Taleban were also killed in the attack today,” Khan said.
Deputy provincial governor Amir Akhund and police chief Abdul Rehman Sabir were attacked while travelling back to the provincial capital after assessing the security situation in Baghran, he said.
Helmand has seen several bloody clashes in the past days that have been part of a dramatic upsurge in violence across the country linked to an insurgency launched by the Taleban movement after it was removed from government in 2001.
About 60 Taleban were killed in a major battle in the provinceÂ’s Musa Qala district on May 17, the US-led coalition said. Twenty fighters were captured.
Sixteen police were killed and 20 wounded.
There was more fighting in Helmand on Saturday, in the Sangin area. War planes of the British forces newly deployed to the province were used for the first time in the battle. Thirteen Afghan troops were killed and at least nine Taleban militants were killed. Two French special forces soldiers were also killed in fighting in the province on Saturday, officials have said without releasing details of the incident.