Up to six Taliban militants and two policemen were killed following a clash between the police and militants in Afghanistan's northern province of Faryab overnight, the police said Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
"A group of armed militants, numbered around 20, launched an armed attack against Afghan Local Police (ALP) checkpoints in Shirin Tagab district, sparking a gun battle lasting for hours Tuesday night," acting-provincial police chief, Nabi Mullahkhil, told Xinhua.
He said the fighting left two ALP cops and six militants dead in the province 425 km northwest of Afghan capital Kabul.
"A Taliban deputy shadowy district chief for the district named Qari Firoz was among the dead and the ALP also arrested three militants besides seizing weapons after the clash," he added.
In addition, a Taliban key commander named Qari Hizatullah was killed by Afghan police in Chardara district in northern Kunduz province Tuesday evening, provincial police chief Samiullah Qatra told Xinhua earlier Wednesday.
The police official said that Hizatullah was responsible for several subversive activities and ambush-style attacks on Afghan and NATO-led coalition forces in the province 250 km north of Kabul.
However, the Taliban insurgent group, which announced the launching of an annual rebel offensive from May 3 against Afghan government and some 100,000 NATO-led coalition forces, has not to make comments yet.