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Roadside Bomb Kills Five Afghan Policemen
[Quqnoos] A roadside bomb hit a convoy of Afghan police, killing five policemen, including a district police chief, in western Afghanistan.

The blast against the police occurred overnight in Robat Sangin district of Herat province, the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The attacks signal a rise in the Taliban-led insurgency after US President Barack Obama authorised the deployment of an extra 30,000 troops to turn around the war in Afghanistan.

Poorly-equipped and ill-trained Afghan police have borne the brunt of violence, suffering far more casualties than Western or Afghan army troops.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but roadside bomb attacks on police are a routine tactic of Taliban militants.

The attack occurs two days after 16 policemen were killed in two different parts of Afghanistan in separate attacks.

On Monday, a Taliban attack at a checkpoint in southern Helmand province killed eight policemen. In a different attack, another eight policemen were killed during an assault on a major highway in northeastern Baghlan province.

Posted by: Fred 2009-12-17
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=285817