Kabul, June 15 (IANS): At least four insurgents and two policemen were killed in an exchange of fire in Afghanistan's Kandahar province Sunday, police said.
Rahmatullah Atrafi, the deputy provincial police chief, said four insurgents and two policemen were killed in the exchange of fire. No civilians were injured in the incident.
The militants tried to disrupt the presidential election process, he said.
"Shortly after the presidential runoff polls began Saturday morning, four Taliban militants broke into and took position in a three-storey building in provincial capital Kandahar city. The security forces avoided to engage the militants in order to ensure peace for the polls on the day. They launched a counter-attack Saturday night. The exchange of fire ended before noon Sunday," Rahmatullah Atrafi told Xinhua.
On Saturday, Afghan voters cast their ballots in the presidential runoff election, which marks the first-ever transfer of power from one elected leader to another in Afghan history.
Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai were running in the runoff election to succeed President Hamid Karzai, who is retiring after his two terms.