Taliban rebels kill 15 security guards in Afghanistan

Taliban insurgents on Tuesday ambushed and killed 15 Afghan security guards working for a US private security firm in western Afghan province of Farah, says a top official.

Taliban insurgents on Tuesday ambushed and killed 15 Afghan security guards working for a US private security firm in western Afghan province of Farah, a top official said.

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"The US Protection and Investigations (USPI) guards were passing by the Bala Buluk district of Farah at around 5 am when the Taliban insurgents launched the attack," said Muhaiding Baluch, the provincial governor.

Five guards were wounded and two fuel tankers were destroyed by Taliban insurgents in the ambush, Baluch said and added that six Taliban militants were also killed when the guards retaliated.

"The USPI guards were escorting a convoy of fuel tankers from western Herat province to southern Kandahar province," he said.

Farah is neighboring the restive southern province of Helmand and has seen growing unrest recently.

The Taliban insurgents often attacked convoys carrying supplies to military bases and also targeted the UN aid programmes in that area.

The war-torn country has been witnessing the bloodiest violence this year as rising militancy-related violence and conflicts have killed over 6,000 people mostly insurgents in 2007.