1st LD Writethru: 7 police killed in N. Afghan attack

Some seven police personnel were killed after Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint in Afghanistan's northern province of Kunduz on Sunday, a local police said.

"The attack took place after militants stormed an Afghan Local Police (ALP) post in Zhakhel, an area on outskirts of provincial capital Kunduz city at wee hours of Sunday. And one ALP officer was also injured during the firing," the police official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The government established the ALP, or community police, in 2010 to protect villages and districts around the country where army and police have limited presence.

However, local residents said that the killing was obviously as a result of a suspected insider attack as an ALP member apparently affiliated with the Taliban had facilitated the attack and after committing the crime took their weapons and joined the attackers.

The provincial police have launched an investigation into the incident and details will be shared later on the day, the police official added.

On Feb. 27, some 12 police were killed in an insider attack in restive southern Helmand province.

The Taliban militants, who ruled the country before being ousted in late 2001, renewed armed insurgency, staging ambushes and suicide attacks, killing combatants as well as civilians.

They have been on rampage since the beginning of 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed the full responsibilities of security from the U.S. and NATO forces. Enditem