Taliban raid Afghan police HQ; 19 rebels dead

Some 200 militants surrounded a police headquarters in southern Afghanistan, an official spokesman said.

Coalition and Afghan forces killed at least 19 Taliban after some 200 militants surrounded a police headquarters in southern Afghanistan, the governor's spokesman said on Thursday.

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Taliban militants, driving four-wheel-drive vehicles, poured into the Helmand provincial town of Nawzad around midday on Wednesday and set up positions around a police compound where Afghan soldiers and police, along with coalition forces, were based, Ghulam Muhiddin said.

"The Taliban surrounded this area, including a nearby bazaar, and told all their shopkeepers to leave before attacking the compound with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades," Muhiddin said.

Coalition warplanes launched several airstrikes, killing 12 militants after hitting a Taliban vehicle and killing another nine when they struck an insurgent position near the compound, Muhiddin said.