Kabul, Jan 3 (IANS): Two policemen and a civilian were killed after Taliban insurgents launched an ambush in northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province overnight, an official said Saturday.

"Two Afghan Local Police (ALP) commanders named Mohammad Saddiq and Mahwan Khal Bai were killed after a gunfight in Imam Shaib district late Friday night," Amanuddin Qurishi, the district governor, told Xinhua.

The clash took place when the policemen left a security check point in Shahram Kotal of the district, north of the provincial capital Kunduz, the source added.

"A civilian passerby was also killed and one ALP policeman was injured as a result of the firing," he said.

The ALP, or community police, was created in 2010 to protect villages and districts around the country where army and police have limited presence.

The Taliban has intensified attacks over the past couple of months as the Afghan forces are taking over the responsibility for security in the country.

The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) assumed full security charges Thursday from NATO-led troops after a four-year security transition.

On Friday night, four employees of a local bank were killed after a roadside bombing struck a vehicle in Lashkar Gah, provincial capital of the southern Helmand province.