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Suspected Taliban Kill 5 Afghan Policemen

Posted on: Tuesday, 15 July 2003, 06:00 CDT

Suspected Taliban fighters attacked a police headquarters in southern Afghanistan, killing the police chief and four other officers, an official said Tuesday.

Two other policemen were wounded in the attack Monday in Ghorak district, 72 miles northwest of Kandahar, said Mohammed Salim, deputy police chief in Kandahar.

About 12 suspected Taliban drove up to the district police headquarters in two cars and a pickup truck. They stormed the station killing police chief Sakza Mama and his men.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Salim blamed the Taliban, who are usually the first ones to be accused of any attack on government offices in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have warned Afghans not to work for the government of President Hamid Karzai. They are believed to have been behind a spate of such assaults in recent months.

Last weekend, suspected Taliban fighters ambushed a police vehicle near Thaloqan village about 25 miles southwest of Kandahar, injuring a senior police official and his brother.

The Taliban militia were ousted from power by a U.S.-led coalition in late 2001 for harboring al-Qaida, the terror network blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

There are reports that the Taliban have since joined hands with fighters loyal to renegade leader, Gubuddin Hekmatyar, as well as with their al-Qaida allies, to fight international troops in Afghanistan.

About 8,500 U.S. soldiers are in Afghanistan searching for al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives.

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