KABUL — A Taliban assault on two adjacent checkpoints in northernAfghanistan killed at least 30 soldiers and police, officials saidWednesday, as life gradually returned to normal in parts of the easterncity of Ghazni after a massive insurgent attack last week, with sporadicgunbattles still underway in some neighborhoods.

Mohammad Safdar Mohseni, the head of the provincial council in the northernBaghlan province, said the insurgents set fire to the checkpoints after theattack late Tuesday in the Baghlan-I Markazi district.

Dilawar Aymaq, a parliamentarian from Baghlan, confirmed the attack, whichtargeted a military checkpoint and another manned by the so-called localpolice, militias recruited and paid by the Interior Ministry.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, Afghans emerged from their homes and some shops reopened inGhazni, where the Taliban launched a coordinated offensive last Friday,overwhelming the city’s defenses and capturing several neighborhoods.Afghan forces repelled the initial assault and in recent days havestruggled to flush the insurgents out of residential areas where they areholed up.