KABUL (AFP) - Four policemen were killed when suspected Taliban militants detonated a landmine in eastern Afghanistan, while one rebel and a civilian died in a gunfight in the south, officials said.
The remote-controlled mine exploded on Tuesday in the Sirkanay district of Kunar province, a few kilometres from where a US military helicopter crashed the same day, provincial governor Asadullah Wafa said on Wednesday.
"The police chief of the district Gul Mohammad and three other policemen were killed," he told AFP. "It was the work of enemies of Afghanistan," the governor added. Afghan officials use this term to refer to the Taliban.
It was not clear if the landmine blast and the crash of the US Chinook with 17 service members on board were linked. Taliban militants claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter.
In south-central Uruzgan province a one-hour gunfight erupted when militants attacked a government checkpoint, killing a civilian, injuring three policemen and losing one of their own fighters, the provincial governor said.
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