Taliban attack Afghan checkpoint, kill 6 intelligence forces

A suicide car bomb targeted a checkpoint in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, killing at least six members of an intelligence unit, an Afghan official said Tuesday.

A suicide car bomb targeted a checkpoint in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, killing at least six members of an intelligence unit, an Afghan official said Tuesday.

Afghan policemen inspect vehicles at a checkpoint in Helmand province, Afghanistan, in February 2017.(Reuters File Photo)

Hayatullah Hayat, the governor of the province, said seven other members of the service were wounded in the attack, which took place late on Monday near the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. The Taliban claimed the attack.

The Taliban have stepped up attacks across Afghanistan since the US and NATO formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, leaving a smaller contingent of troops behind to focus on training and counterterrorism. The insurgents have repeatedly attacked Lashkar Gah.

In the eastern Wardak province, meanwhile, three Afghan soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb.

Abdul Rahman Mangal, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the blast on Monday was followed by a firefight with the Taliban in which five insurgents were killed.