New Delhi ; In Afghanistan, more than 50 police officers have been killed over the past two days in heavy fighting around the capital of the southern province of Helmand.

 

Regional police commander said, 24 officers were killed on Monday while 33 were killed on Sunday. He said, nearly 40 others were injured.

 

He said, four government posts have fallen to the Taliban, as the fighters are trying to cut off the main road to the capital Kabul and the neighbouring province of Kandahar.

 

The areas hit by the latest fighting are Greshk, Nad Ali, and Nahr-e Saraj, which neighbour the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah to the north and west.

 

The fighting in Helmand is the first major offensive by the Taliban since their new leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada assumed the leadership of the group after Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed by a US drone attack inside Pakistan on May 23rd.