AFP

KANDAHAR INSURGENTS attacked an Afghan checkpoint overnight, killing two police officers and abducting five others in the southwest of the country, officials said on Monday.

The attack happened in Nimroz province late Sunday and appears to be linked to rogue police officers involved with the Taliban, officials said.

“Armed insurgents attacked a police post in Khash Rod district at 11:00 pm killing two policemen, wounding one, and kidnapping five others,” said provincial police chief General Abdul Jabar Purdeli.

“The insurgents took away the weapons, ammunition and all the equipment.” Hashim Noorzai, district governor of Khash Rod, said that two policemen, who have since disappeared, alerted the Taliban to attack the checkpoint.

“Two of the policemen were Taliban puppets and were linked to them,” he said.

In central Afghanistan, the bodies of 13 men — one of them a beheaded soldier — were found in two separate locations in Logar province, police said.

“An Afghan soldier, a tailor working with coalition troops and an unidentified civilian were found in Puli Alam today,” said Mohammad Jaan Adil, the provincial chief of countercriminal police.

“The army trooper was beheaded with a blunt knife, the tailor was shot in the chest and the unidentified man was shot in the head.” He added that the bodies of 10 other men were found elsewhere in Logar after being kidnapped Sunday but did not have details on their identities.

The Taliban and other insurgent groups frequently target government forces who are to take increasing responsibility for security in Afghanistan between now and the end of 2014, when foreign combat troops are scheduled to pull out.

More than 130,000 US-led international troops are in Afghanistan battling a Taliban-led insurgency which has run for nearly 10 years.