5 Afghan police killed in suspected insider attack

Five police personnel were killed and six others wounded in a suspected insider attack in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar overnight, sources said on Thursday.

"According to an initial probe, two policemen turned their guns against their comrades during dinner in Aqa Wali checkpoint in Abdul Rauf area of Zharay district on Wednesday night, killing six police personnel and injuring six others," a security source told Xinhua anonymously.

The injured were shifted to a district hospital.

The attackers were apparently affiliated with the Taliban militants, the source said, adding, "one attacker was killed during the shootout while the second shooter involved in the attack fled the scene shortly after the firing."

The Taliban militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Such incidents also occurred in the past. Late in January, 10 police officers were poisoned to death at a security post in neighboring Uruzgan province.

Kandahar and the neighboring Helmand province are notorious for poppy growing and militancy. Enditem