Afghan officials: Attacks kill 10 police; blast kills 2 kids

In northern Faryab province, Karim Yuresh, spokesman for the provincial police chief, said a Taliban attack killed three policemen in Qaysar district, also last night.

Attacks blamed on the Taliban in northern and western Afghanistan killed at least 10 members of the country's security forces, officials said today, while a land mine explosion in western Herat province killed two children.

In western Farah province, police commander Abdul Razaq Alkhani said a Taliban attack killed seven policemen last night. The Taliban hit a police post in Bala Buluk district and the hours-long fighting also killed three insurgent before the Taliban were pushed back, Alkhani said.

In northern Faryab province, Karim Yuresh, spokesman for the provincial police chief, said a Taliban attack killed three policemen in Qaysar district, also last night.

Ten Taliban insurgents were also killed in the ensuing gunbattle, he added.

The two children killed in a land mine explosion in western Herat province were children of a local Taliban figure, said Abdul Ahad Walizada, spokesman of the provincial chief police. He blamed the Taliban but did not provide more details.

The Taliban have not claimed responsibility for either of the two attacks.