Attacks kill 10 police in Afghanistan

Taliban attacks killed at least ten Afghan police today, officials said, in the latest violence against the force which is due to take more security responsibility from NATO troops before their withdrawal next year.

In one of the incidents, Taliban fighters attacked a security check post in the Muqur district of Ghazni province in southern Afghanistan, killing six police, according to district governor.

"Six of our local police were martyred after hours of clash with Taliban when they attacked their post early today," he said.

He added a second attack on a local police check post in Muqur wounded four police.

The victims were members of the 18,000-strong Afghan Local Police, a village-level force formed in 2010 to provide security in areas where the better-trained national police and army are scarce.

Also on Sunday, four Afghan border police were killed when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb in eastern Nangarhar province that borders neighbouring Pakistan.

"Today at around 10:00 am, a border police pickup truck hit a roadside bomb while on patrol in Mohamand Dara district of Nangarhar province,"  Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, Nangarhar provincial governor spokesman told AFP.

"As a result of the blast, four border police were killed." he said.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for both attacks saying at least two local officers were among the dead in Ghazni.

Afghan security forces are increasingly on the front line against the insurgents, and suffering heavier casualties, as NATO combat troops prepare to withdraw by the end of next year.