At least 17 Afghanistan police officers killed in insurgent attack
An overnight attack on a police checkpoint killed at least 17 members of the Afghan national police in southern Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.
The attack began late Friday evening in Helmand province’s Musa Qala district, long a stronghold of insurgents, when “anti-government forces” converged on the checkpoint, said Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor.
Dozens of fighters stormed the checkpoint in the assault that lasted until early Saturday morning.
Zwak said two police officers were also wounded in the attack. An Afghan official quoted by the Associated Press in an early report said at least 20 police officers died.
Musa Qala, in northeast Helmand, has been the site of some of the fiercest fighting of the Afghan conflict between the Taliban and NATO forces, primarily U.S. Marines and British soldiers.
No group claimed responsibility for the overnight attack.
According to figures released by NATO, the first five months of 2015 have seen more than 2,300 deaths among the Afghan National Security Forces. An additional 4,500 were injured in the same period.
Latifi is a special correspondent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles TimesUPDATE
9:07 a.m., June 6: This post has been updated to include new information.
This post was originally published at 11:51 p.m., June 5.
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