News / Afghanistan

Six Afghan policemen killed in Taliban ambush in Balkh

Monday, 04 April 2016 4:09 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 04 April 2016 4:08 PM ]

The file photo shows Taliban militants in an unknown area in Afghanistan.

At least six Afghan police officers have lost their lives after their convoy was ambushed by Taliban militants in the country’s northern province of Balkh, an Afghan official says.

According to Abdul Manan Raoufi, the police operation chief of the province, the militants attacked the convoy on Sunday night in the Dawlat Abad district of Balkh.

He said the ambush happened when the police were en route to the neighboring province of Jawzjan after conducting a military operation in the district.

Raoufi added that a Taliban leader was also killed in the gunfight between Afghan police and the militant group.

Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity more than 14 years after the United States and its allies attacked the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. Although the 2001 attack overthrew the Taliban, many areas across Afghanistan still face violence and insecurity.

Over the past months, the group’s militants have captured some key areas in the north and south of Afghanistan. The militants have also carried out attacks in the capital, Kabul.

This has prompted renewed efforts in the country and by neighbors to revive stalled negotiations between Taliban and the Afghan government.

Taliban says it would not take part in peace talks with the Afghan government until its preconditions are met.

In a statement on 5 March 2016, the militant group said “until the occupation of foreign troops ends, until Taliban names are removed from international blacklists and until our detainees are released,” peace talks for an end to the conflict in Afghanistan will yield no results

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