September 2, 2003	Tuesday	Rajab 4, 1424

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KABUL, Sept 1: At least 11 Afghans, two of them guards for a US company, were killed overnight by suspected Taliban guerillas as US forces launched a fresh assault on hundreds of militants in Zabul.

Afghan officials said on Monday seven policemen and two soldiers were killed by fighters from the ousted regime in three raids in Zabul and neighbouring Uruzgan province.

Four of the seven policemen died when a checkpoint set up to guard reconstruction work on the Kabul-Kandahar highway came under fire, Zabul’s intelligence chief, Khalil Hotak, said.

Mike Staples, spokesman for the US Louis Berger Group Inc, which was awarded the contract to repair the vital road link last year, told Reuters an Interior Ministry position came under attack at around 1am (2030 GMT on Sunday).

It was unclear whether they were referring to the same incident. According to Staples, the attack was near a guest house where Indian contractors working for the company were staying.—Reuters