1st LD Writethru: 12 police killed in Afghan southern province

A total of 12 police personnel were killed in a checkpoint in Helmand's provincial capital Lashkar Gah 555 km south of Kabul on on Tuesday, a security official said.

"Obviously it was an insider attack and happened early morning in the second precinct of Lashkar Gah city after a police who apparently affiliated with the Taliban, during his duty at midnight contacted the Taliban militants and after committing the crime took their weapons and joined the enemies," the official told Xinhua.

However, he declined to be identified, saying authorized officials would brief the media.

Meanwhile, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in contact with media claimed of responsibility and insisted that 12 policemen had been killed in attack on police checkpoint in Lashkar Gah.

However, spokesman for Helmand's provincial government Omar Zawak has confirmed the attack on police checkpoint by saying, "the incident happened and the case being investigated".

A similar incident in the Helmand's neighboring Kandahar province claimed the lives of 16 police personnel on a checkpoint some 40 days ago.

The poppy growing and restive Helmand province has been the scene of fierce fighting between government forces and the Taliban militants over the past couple of years. Enditem