7 policemen killed in Afghan Taliban attack

No fewer than seven police officers were killed and five others were injured in a Taliban attack on their outpost in northern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday.
According to dap, "A group of insurgents attacked a local police outpost Saturday night in a remote area in Qoshtepa district," said Abdul Mannan Raoufi, a police official in Jauzjan province.
The police resisted for three hours. By the time reinforcement troops arrived the militants had left the area, Roufi said.
"Five insurgents were also killed and six were injured," he added.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Separately, officials in Kunduz province said the Taliban had kidnapped four Tajik border troops.
Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, a provincial police spokesman, said the incident took place in a forest-covered area in the Imam Saheb district, which is under Taliban control.
"They were reportedly unarmed and had mistakenly entered Afghan soil," said Hussaini, noting that police were searching for them.
Taliban sources were not immediately available for comment.
In the eastern province of Kunar, a roadside bomb struck a pickup truck late Saturday, killing seven civilians, said local official Mohammad Rahman.
"The truck was driving from Asadabad city to Nari district, and hit the roadside bomb near Nari," Rahman added. A police official said two girls were among those killed.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO-led military alliance plans to withdraw its combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year. About 13,000 soldiers, mostly from the United States, will remain in Afghanistan to train and advise the Afghan security forces.