18 Afghan policemen are said to have been killed and four others wounded in an ambush in the south of the country by suspected Taliban militants.
A spokesperson for the country’s Interior Ministry said the ambush occurred in Helmand's Registan district yesterday afternoon and was followed by a firefight that went on until early this morning.
The attack is the deadliest on the Afghan police force since it was formed in late 2001 in the wake of the US-led war against the Taliban.
In a separate incident last night, four rockets were fired on Kandahar city, which has also been caught up in the recent insurgency which has seen a spate of deadly attacks. There were no injuries.
