12 Afghan police officers killed in Taliban attacks

Afghan police have announced that a dozen of their officers have been killed in a series of attacks by Taliban militants south of the country.

Hismatullah Daulatzai, the head of police for the greater Helmand zone, said Monday that the attacks the previous night targeted police checkpoints in Gereshk district, killing 12 officers and injuring seven more.

Daulatzai said the Taliban may have abducted seven other policemen as they are still missing.

Local sources said clashes erupted after dozens of Taliban militants attacked police outposts in the area. They put the death toll at 11 and said there were no reports of casualties among the militants.

The attacks in the southern, opium poppy-producing region of Helmand come days after Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was reportedly killed in a US drone strike in western Pakistan. Mansour was believed to be the key figure in Taliban’s large network of opium trade in Helmand. The militant group has vowed to avenge Mansour’s death.

Similar attacks have been carried out over the past few days in different parts of Helmand, including in Gereshk, Nahr-e-Saraj and along the Helmand highway.

Estimates show that around 200,000 people have been killed in less than three decades of Taliban militancy in Afghanistan. The government in Kabul has undertaken a series of initiatives for peace with the group, although fighting continues unabated across the country.

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