Three Afghan provincial officials, two of their bodyguards and one civilian were killed in separate attacks in eastern Afghanistan, while Afghan police forces backed by coalition troops killed ten suspected Taliban in the southern region, officials said Saturday, dpa reported.
Nahim Jan Shinwari, the district governor for Goshta district of eastern Nangarhar province and one of bodyguards were killed when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb in Bati Kot district of the province on Saturday, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the provincial governor said.
Shinwari's driver was wounded in the attack, he said.
Also on Saturday, Taliban militants shot dead a senior member for the provincial council of Nangarhar in Dare Noor district, Abdulzai said.
Separately, Taliban militants killed the district police chief of Qargha district of the neighbouring Laghman province and his bodyguard in an ambush on Friday night, Sayed Ahmad a provincial spokesman said.
US-led coalition forces killed an Afghan civilian and wounded two others including a woman and a child in south-eastern Khost province on Friday after the vehicle the victims were travelling in failed to stop at a military checkpoint, the US military said in a statement.
The statement said the forces gave flashlights and fired warning shots before they targeted the vehicle, which was approaching them at high speed.
In another incident, Afghan police backed by coalition forces killed ten suspected Taliban fighters in a clash in Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province on Friday, Afghan interior ministry said in a statement.
The militants attacked the joint forces after they arrested three rebels, who had been involved in roadside bombing in the area, the statement said, adding that there was no casualties among the combined forces.
Taliban militants have steadily gained power in the past three years following their initial defeat in a US-led military invasion in late 2001.
Unlike in the previous years when Afghanistan witnessed lull during the winter months, Taliban militants continued their attacks on Afghan and foreign forces this year despite cold weather.