34 Afghans Killed In Taliban Attacks Across The Country

An Afghan security force member stands guard at a security checkpoint on Kabul-Ghazni highway in Afghanistan on 13 August (Picture: PA).

A Taliban attack on two adjacent checkpoints in northern Afghanistan has left 30 Afghan soldiers and police officers dead.

Officials in Baghlan province said the insurgents set fire to the checkpoints late on Tuesday in the Baghlan-I Markazi district.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack, which targeted a military checkpoint and another manned by local police.

In a separate incident, Taliban attacks killed four police officers in southern Zabul province.

Provincial police chief Mustafa Mayar said three officers were also injured when the Taliban attacked security posts in the Zabul capital of Qalat.

He said a gun battle lasted several hours, during which the Taliban used artillery and heavy guns. The attack also left seven rebels dead and five others injured.

Meanwhile, Afghans emerged from their homes and some shops reopened in the eastern city of Ghazni, where the Taliban launched a co-ordinated offensive last Friday, overwhelming the city's defences and capturing several neighbourhoods.

Afghan forces repelled the initial attack and in recent days have struggled to flush the insurgents out of residential areas.

The US and NATO have launched air strikes and sent military advisers to aid Afghan forces as they fight for the city, which is just 75 miles from the capital Kabul and has a population of 270,000 people.

Arif Noori, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said on Wednesday that "life is getting back to normal" after at least 35 civilians were killed in recent days.

Hundreds of people have fled the fighting in Ghazni, which has killed about 100 members of the Afghan security forces.