Sixteen policemen were killed in separate militant attacks in Afghanistan Monday.
Eight policemen were killed in a pre-dawn attack on a police post in northern Afghanistan. A group of Islamist gunmen stormed the police check-post in northern Baghlan province, set up to protect NATO convoys on a main highway from the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Hezb-e-Islami, an Islamist militant group that is strong in north-eastern regions of Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. It also admitted one of its fighters was killed in retaliation.
The second attack occurred in the Helmand province in the south, where eight policemen guarding a checkpoint fell victim to the gunmen's bullets. The 93,000-strong Afghan police force and 94,000-member defense force, lacking sufficient training and equipment, is vulnerable to an estimated 25,000 Islamist insurgents operating in the mountainous terrains of the country, reports say.
The incident coincides with the visit of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, who is expected to hold a series of meetings with government officials on the implementation of Washington's updated Afghan strategy.
President Barrack Obama has pledged to deploy an extra 30,000 American troops in Afghanistan.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
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.