Ambush Kills 15 Afghan Police

KABUL -- Fifteen members of the Afghan National Police have reportedly been killed and another 10 wounded by a Taliban ambush in western Afghanistan.

Abdul Rahman Zhawandai, a spokesman for the governor of Farah Province, said the police were part of a patrol that was moving through a mountain pass in the province's Bala Baluk District when they were attacked late on August 28.

Zhawandai told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that the dead included Aman Khan, a commander of the police unit.

He said four police vehicles were destroyed.

Earlier on August 28, Afghan security officials told RFE/RL they were launching a security operation in the Bala Baluk district of Farah Province in response to a growing number of attacks targeting traffic on the main highway linking Kandahar and the western city of Herat.


With reporting by AP and AFP