Kabul: Taliban insurgents in captured military Humvee vehicles launched suicide attacks in the southern Afghan province of Helmand yesterday, killing several members of the security forces in the district centre of Sangin. Provincial police chief said that after heavy fighting on Friday during which the Taliban lost around 40 fighters, suicide bombers in two captured Afghan army Humvees targeted the police and governor’s headquarters. The second bomber detonated his vehicle near a checkpoint guarding the two headquarters. Four policemen were killed and seven wounded, he said, while an army spokesman said one soldier was killed and another was wounded.

In Kabul, the outgoing commander of international troops in Afghanistan General John Campbell confirmed the incident but said no American troops were involved. The Taliban have captured large amounts of weapons and equipment from Afghan government forces, including Humvees and other vehicles, as the insurgency has spread over the past year.