HERAT, May 6: Taliban militants ambushed a police patrol in western Afghanistan, killing eight policemen and losing at least four of their own fighters, police said on Sunday.

The fighting in the province of Farah erupted late Saturday after dozens of Taliban rebels ambushed a police patrol, Farah police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb said.

“Eight police were killed and two wounded,” Saqeb said. About 17 rebels were believed killed and wounded during six hours of fighting, but only four bodies were recovered from the battlefield, he said.

“The fighting ceased when we sent reinforcements,” Saqeb said. Ministry of interior spokesman Zemarai Bashary confirmed the attack.

The latest battle was in Farah's Bala Baluk district which has seen a surge in Taliban activity this year.

TWO US SOLDIERS KILLED: A man dressed in Afghan army uniform shot dead two US soldiers on Sunday outside Afghanistan's main, high security prison near Kabul, the US-led coalition said .

“He fired shots into a vehicle being driven by US service personnel as they were leaving the prison. This action resulted in the death of two soldiers and left two other soldiers wounded,” spokesman Major Sheldon Smith told AFP.