1st LD Writethru: 9 police killed in gunfight with Taliban in N. Afghanistan

FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, April 29 (Xinhua) -- At least nine Afghan police personnel were killed and 10 others injured in a gunfight after the Taliban attacked a remote district in the country's northern province of Badakhshan, local police said Sunday.

"Militants stormed security checkpoints in the outer neighborhood of Tashkan district Saturday night, triggering a gunfight. Sporadic clashes were ongoing Sunday around the district center and its local bazaar as security forces are fighting back the assailants," spokesman Sanaullah Rouhani told Xinhua.

Several militants were also killed and wounded during the fighting in the district, south of provincial capital Faizabad city, but their number could not be exactly specified yet, he added.

The Taliban-led insurgency has been on the rampage since the beginning of 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed full responsibilities of security from the U.S. and NATO troops.

The Taliban militants also intensified attacks against security forces across the country after they launched a yearly rebel offensive on Wednesday.

The mountainous province has been the scene of heavy clashes over the past months.

Earlier, the country's defense ministry said that six Taliban militants were killed and four others wounded during a cleanup operation in Tashkan district on Saturday. Enditem