KANDAHAR, May 26: Four policemen and 10 Taliban were killed in a fresh battle in Afghanistan on Friday as a rights group said the civilian death toll from a coalition strike this week was more than double the official estimate.

In the latest violence, militants attacked a police vehicle in Ghazni province, provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang said.

“This attack sparked a police operation. After a one-hour exchange of fire, and the arrival of reinforcements, at least 10 Taliban where killed,” he said.

The incident took place in Giro district where Taliban militants had taken refuge in a village and were besieged by police, Sarjang said.

“Coalition and Afghan troops were called in for assistance,” coalition spokeswoman Lieutenant Tamara Lawrence said. “When they arrived the fighting had ended.”

Afghanistan has in the past 10 days seen some of the worst fighting since the fall of the Taliban.—AFP