Taliban try to capture Afghan district

KABUL: About 150 Taliban stormed a district in western Afghanistan, taking control of the headquarters for about an hour before being repelled in a battle in which two insurgents were killed, police said on Thursday.

It was the third major attack in the province in three days.

“The rebels descended on the capital Bakwa district of western Farah province late on Wednesday, sparking a three-hour battle,” provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib said. “Police retreated from the district for one hour,” he added.

"Two Taliban were killed, four Taliban were wounded and two police were also wounded in the three hours of exchange of fire," he said adding that the Taliban had captured the district only for one hour and then were forced out of the area.

The district police headquarters was partially damaged in the battle and several police vehicles were set ablaze by the extremist Islamic students.

A police convoy was attacked in Farah province mid-afternoon on Wednesday and four policemen and four Taliban were killed in the fighting.

The battle was not far from where unidentified gunmen shot dead a UN driver on Tuesday.

Farah has been relatively quiet compared to the volatile south of Afghanistan where Taliban attacks are almost a daily routine.

But it is seeing more violence, raising concern that the militants are building up there presence elsewhere in the country.

The Taliban were in power between 1996 and 2001, when they were removed by a US-led coalition. They now want to topple the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

In another attack similar to those regularly carried out by the rebels, four rockets were fired near Qalat, capital city of troubled southern Zabul province but caused no damage or casualties.