Six people, including four policemen and two civilians, have been killed in a militant attack on a checkpoint in the Nahri Sarraj district of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.
Media reports citing officials said the militants had first poisoned the policemen's food before launching a full scale attack on the checkpoint. It is not clear whether the two civilians were killed by food poisoning or the militant attack.
The volatile Helmand province is considered a Taliban stronghold, and has witnessed such attacks on civilian and military targets as well on NATO-led foreign forces in the past.
It was the second deadly militant attack on a police checkpoint in Afghanistan in as many days. Militants had attacked a police checkpoint in Wardoj district of northern Badakhshan province, killing three police officers and abducting 11.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for both attacks. The incidents come at a time NATO forces are preparing to leave the war-torn country by 2014 after transferring the security responsibilities to the Afghan police and national army.
Currently, there are over 130,000 foreign troops from more than 42 countries in Afghanistan to contain a resurgent Taliban in the land-locked country. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has already begun the process of entrusting security responsibilities of several provinces to Afghan forces.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.