As many as seven people including four Taliban and three policemen were killed and four others wounded in overnight clashes in southern Afghanistan, security officials said Wednesday. Three policemen were killed and a senior officer wounded in Uruzgan province when a group of Taliban fighters ambushed a police vehicle in Choora area. The ambush and subsequent exchange of fire, lasted for several hours, killed a Taliban fighter also and wounded a senior police officer. Military and fresh police contingents have been dispatched into the area to net down the terrorists who, officials believed were there to sabotage the counting process.In related violence incident in Zabul province, the law enforcing agencies (LEA) claimed they had shot dead three terrorists following a fierce fighting. LEA officials said police party was patrolling the area when they encountered the terrorists. In exchange of fire, three Taliban were gunned down while the rest fled the scene, they said. They added that a search operation had been launched in the area to net down the outlaws who had taken refuge in the nearby mountains.
Ballot counting remained suspended in several parts of the country including capital Kabul, Nangarhar, Laghman, Kandahar and some northern provinces for various reasons. JEMB officials, on Tuesday said the delay was due to logistic problems; however, independent reports arrived from scattered areas suggested the stoppage was caused by attacks on counting centres and lorries delivering the ballot boxes.