At least 10 officers killed in two days of fighting for control of key highways

At least 10 policemen died in clashes with Taliban fighters in the central Afghan province of Wardak, officials said on Sunday, amid fighting to wrest control of important highways a day after the insurgents blew up bridges. Interior Ministry deputy spokesperson Nasrat Rahimi said 14 police, including a district police chief, were killed as the insurgents tried but failed to capture the Sayed Abad district headquarters in the Maidan Wardak province. Repeated assaults on strategically important provinces, such as Wardak and nearby Ghazni, have been a show of strength for the Taliban, underscoring how volatile security remains in Afghanistan two weeks before nationwide parliamentary elections. US peace envoy arrives in Kabul as Taliban ramp up attacks

KABUL: Senior US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has arrived in Kabul for talks with Afghan leaders, an official said Sunday, in his first trip to the Afghan capital since being appointed to lead peace efforts with the Taliban. Abdul Rahman Mangal, a spokesman for the Wardak governor’s office, said the Taliban raided some civilian houses after killing 10 policemen in that province, destroyed newly built checkpoints and cut power to some parts of the city. The fighting also cut off electricity to four provinces: Maidan Wardak, Logar, Ghazni and Paktia. Mohammad Arif Noori, a spokesman for Ghazni’s governor, said one soldier was killed by Taliban fighters as they tried to gain control over parts of the province nearly two months after being pushed back from the city by U.S.-backed Afghan forces. The Taliban attacked Ghazni, a strategically important centre straddling the main highway linking Kabul with Afghanistan’s south, in August. In the latest incident, Taliban fighters killed 14 members of the security forces in a district in eastern Afghanistan that straddles the strategic Kabul-Kandahar highway linking the Afghan capital and the group’s southern strongholds.
Afghan officials say that the Taliban destroyed highway bridges in Maidan Wardak Province, cutting off road traffic between the capital Kabul and the provinces of Ghazni, Zabul and Kandahar. Electricity was cut off in four provinces, and fighting was reported in Ghazni Province. At least ten Afghan police officers were killed. Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in two weeks.