Afghan Taliban targeted a police checkpoint in the western Herat province, setting off a battle in which a policeman and three civilians were killed, according to a provincial official in Herat.

Police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada said six of the attackers were also killed in the battle late on Tuesday.

The Afghan Taliban effectively control nearly half the country and carry out daily attacks that mainly target security forces.

Meanwhile, in the eastern Nangarhar province, the director of a local television station was kidnapped.

Attahullah Khogyani, the governor's spokesman, said the TV director, known as Engineer Zelmia, was kidnapped late on Tuesday. Zelmia's driver was shot and killed.

No one immediately claimed the abduction, but the Afghan Taliban and the militant Islamic State group are both active in Nangarhar.

In the eastern Paktika province, a suspected United States drone strike killed a local government employee believed to have links to insurgents, said Shah Mohammad Aryan, spokesman for the provincial police chief. He said the strike, that occurred late on Tuesday, took place in an area on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Sharan, where insurgents have been known to stage rocket attacks on the city.