April 15, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1429

ARGHANDAB, (Afghanistan) April 14: Dozens of Taliban militants stormed a police post in southern Afghanistan early on Monday, shooting dead 11 policemen.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the policemen in troubled Kandahar province.

“One of our police posts was attacked in Arghandab district. At this point I can confirm that 11 policemen have been killed,” deputy provincial police chief Amanuallah Khan told AFP.

Mr Khan said it appeared that the insurgents were disguised in police uniforms and there were indications that the attack on the walled compound, launched just after midnight, was an inside job.

“Initial investigations indicate that one of the policemen had ties with the Taliban. The Taliban infiltrated the post and opened fire on the police -- there was no exchange of fire,” he said.

Police vehicles and weapons were also seized by the attackers, Mr Khan said.

Local witnesses said they heard gunshots for about half an hour after the attack began at the site, which is on a road linking Kandahar to neighbouring Uruzgan province.

A burnt-out police pick-up truck and a motorcycle littered the scene while blood was spattered around the room where the policemen were killed, an AFP reporter witnessed.

Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary confirmed that 11 policemen were killed and another wounded but could not immediately confirm Khan’s account of the attack.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said rebels had seized 15 weapons and torched two vehicles in the assault on the police post. “We claim responsibility. Fifty Taliban carried out the attack,” he said.

Kandahar province is where the Taliban rose to prominence in the early 1990s and is one of the worst hit regions in an insurgency led by the hardline militia since their ouster.

The French and Canadian foreign ministers visited Kandahar in the past week to witness the efforts of troops from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force.—AFP