Taliban kill nine Afghans

Nine Afghan soldiers and policemen have been killed in Taliban guerilla attacks, officials said yesterday, while the US military announced a new assault to wipe out hundreds of militants in a restive southern province.

Four policemen in Zabul province who were guarding a highway being rebuilt between the capital and the southern city of Kandahar were killed in a rebel attack late on Sunday, the province's intelligence chief, Khalil Hotak, told Reuters.

Three policemen were killed while sleeping at a checkpoint in the Tazir Abad area on the same road, he said.

"The attackers were certainly Taliban. They took with them two policemen in charge of security for the road and a car," he said.