At least 13 Afghan policemen were killed when Taliban militants attackedtwo checkpoints overnight in the north of the country, officials saidWednesday.
The militants stormed and briefly held the checkpoints on the outskirts ofPule Khumri, capital of northern Baghlan province, officials said.
The dead, and five wounded, had been taken to the provincial hospital, saidAinuddin Sayad, the director of the facility.
Provincial police spokesman Ahmad Jawed Basharat confirmed the attack.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a wave ofviolence to rock the country in recent weeks.
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In a separate incident Wednesday, five security personnel and 17 Talibanmilitants were killed when government forces countered an offensive insouthern Uruzgan province, another official said.
Violence has surged across several provinces of Afghanistan even as theTaliban and Afghan government engage in peace talks to end the war.-APP/AFP
