Taliban storm police posts: 14 killed

Police said meanwhile they had arrested 15 suspected Taliban in a sweep Saturday of an area south of Kandahar city where 41 militants and six police were killed in a major day-long battle Friday.

The police posts -- a couple of kilometres apart from each other on the country's main highway between Kandahar and the capital -- were attacked in a near-simultaneous strike late Saturday, police said.

"For 30 minutes the Taliban were fighting with police last night. Fourteen Taliban wounded and killed," Zabul provincial police chief Mohammad Nabi Molakhel told AFP.

The posts, which are usually manned by about 10 policemen, were all near the Zabul capital Qalat.

A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, confirmed the attack but said only two Taliban were killed along with nine policemen. Police said they had no casualties.

Afghan and coalition soldiers killed another three Taliban Saturday after being ambushed while on a joint patrol in central Uruzgan province, a US military statement said.

"The engagement occurred when five insurgents attacked Afghan National Army and coalition forces with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The Afghan and coalition forces manoeuvred and returned fire," it said.

The area southwest of Kandahar city -- the scene of a major battle on Friday in which coalition helicopters fired rockets in support of Afghan forces -- was quiet after a sweep on Saturday.