Kabul, May 1 (IANS): Seven policemen and 20 militants were killed in separate attacks across Afghanistan, authorities said Thursday.
Three Afghan policemen and two militants were killed in a Taliban attack on police checkpoints in Dasht-e-Archi district of northern Kunduz province early Thursday, district governor Hamid Agha told Xinhua.
A local Taliban leader named Mullah Nasim was killed while a militant and a policeman were wounded in a shootout in neighbouring Char Dara district Thursday morning.
The Taliban, which has been waging an insurgency since its regime was toppled by a US-led invasion in late 2001, intensifies attacks in spring and summer known as the fighting season in the war-torn country.
Four policemen were killed when the Taliban launched an attack on security checkpoints in Ali Sheer district of eastern Khost province overnight.
Three militants were killed and one was captured during the clash, the provincial government said in a statement.
Elsewhere, 14 militants were killed in two operations in northern Faryab and Badakhshan provinces Wednesday.
More than 2,900 civilians were killed and nearly 5,700 wounded in conflicts and Taliban-led attacks in the war-torn country last year, according to official figures.