KANDAHAR, March 11: Taliban ambushed a police patrol in southern Afghanistan killing eight, a police commander said, while a suicide bombing and another gunfight left four more dead in a weekend of violence.

The patrol was ambushed in Kandahar on Saturday, the commander of the border police in the province, Gen Raziq, said and added: “Eight policemen were killed.”

The rebels were able to flee following a ‘brief’ gunbattle after the attack in Arghistan district, said the commander. They appeared not to have suffered any casualties, he said.

The suicide bombing which tore through a joint Afghan and US-led coalition force convoy in Farah on Sunday killed a policeman and injured three others, said Ikramuddin Yawar, police chief for the western provinces.

There were no casualties among the US-led troops, the commander said.

The US military headquarters in Bagram air field could not immediately confirm the blast.

The government also announced, meanwhile, that 10 Taliban and three policemen were killed in another gunfight in Kandahar province on Friday.

Taliban fighters attacked a convoy on the main highway, sparking a gunfight, the interior ministry said on Sunday.

“Three policemen were martyred and 10 bodies of Taliban were found,” it said.

In another incident late Saturday, a police patrol came under attack in Zabul province. Two Taliban were killed in the return fire, provincial security chief Gholam Rabbani said.—AFP