BALKH – At least 11 policemen were killed and over a dozen captured onTuesday when Taliban fighters stormed their headquarters in northernAfghanistan, officials said.
A column of more than 400 Taliban fighters on motorbikes attacked Shortepadistrict police headquarters in Balkh province in the early hours,triggering a lengthy gunfight, provincial spokesman Munir Farhad told AFP.
“Eleven policemen were killed in the attack. The Taliban also sufferedheavy losses,” he said.
Karim Khan, the Shortepa district chief, told AFP the Taliban had captured13 other policemen and set the headquarters’ buildings on fire beforeleaving the area.
In a statement, the Taliban claimed responsibility, saying their fightershad overrun the district.
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The attack comes days after millions of Afghans went to the polls to votefor their next president, despite hundreds of Taliban bombings andsmall-scale attacks at polling stations.
But officials have praised the Afghan security forces for preventing theTaliban from conducting any large-scale attacks
