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DPA
KABUL
AT least eleven Afghan police officers were killed in Taliban attacks in western Afghanistan, an official said on Sunday.
A group of Taliban attacked three police checkpoints at the main bazaar in the district of Farahrod on Sunday morning.
"Eight other police officers were injured and four are missing," Farah province council member Jamila Amini said. Militants left the area after burning down the three posts and a Humvee, Amini added.
However, a spokesman for the provincial governor, Mohammad Naser Mehri, said that six police have been killed and eight other injured.
The attacks were repelled with eight militants dying and six others injured.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group inflicted heavy casualties on police in the attack.
Farah province has seen an increase in violence against Afghan forces.
On Tuesday, 37 Afghan security forces were killed when armed Taliban fighters stormed several security posts in southern Kandahar and western Farah provinces of Afghanistan.
Night-time attacks on security posts and bases are increasing across the country and have become a weekly, if not daily, occurrence in recent months.
As the war intensifies, Afghan security forces are increasingly overwhelmed and demoralised, contributing to NATO's decision to increase the number of international troops in Afghanistan this year.
Many of the additional soldiers are supposed to help train the Afghan army and police. Meanwhile, Afghan officials report that dozens of persons held prisoner by the Taliban were freed by Afghan special forces in southern Helmand province.
