The Taliban have killed 15 Afghan policemen in two separate attacks on checkpoints in the east and south of the country, officials said on Monday.
Arif Noori, the spokesman for the governor of the eastern Ghazni province, said an attack on a checkpoint there killed nine policemen and wounded four others. He said seven insurgents were killed and five others were wounded in the battle, which lasted more than an hour.
Late Sunday, the Taliban attacked another checkpoint in the southern Zabul province, igniting clashes in which six police personnel and eight insurgents were killed. Amir Jan Alokozai, a district administrative chief, said another eight policemen and 12 insurgents were wounded. The Taliban claimed both attacks. The insurgents have launched a wave of attacks across the country against security forces this month that has killed more than 200 people.
In a third attack, in the northern Baghlan province, a sticky bomb attached to a military vehicle went off in a market, wounding 13 civilians, according to Zabihullah Shuja, spokesman for the provincial police chief. No one claimed the attack, which took place in the provincial capital, Puli Khomri.