12 Taliban, three cops killed in Afghan Clash
Pakistan Times Wire Service

KABUL (Afghanistan): Taliban ambushed a police patrol in southern Afghan mountains Tuesday, killing three police but leaving 12 militants dead, while in violence near the capital, three health workers and their driver were killed by a land mine.

The ambush occurred in Helmand province, said officials.

Dozens of Taliban fled after ambushing the police, leaving the bodies of their colleagues on the rocky ground, he said.

Meanwhile, a land mine hidden on the side of a dirt road near the Afghan capital blew up under a vehicle carrying a team of health workers, killing four people, officials said on Tuesday.

The blast killed a doctor, a male nurse and a female one, as well as their driver, said Bashar Gul, the deputy police chief of Wardak province. The four worked for a local aid group, the Afghan Health Development Services.

The blast occurred about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Kabul on a busy road that is often frequented by foreigners, he said.●