At least 13 Afghan security forces were killed and several more injured when Taliban fighters attacked security checkpoints in northern Kunduz province, officials said on Wednesday.
Eight soldiers and at least four policemen were injured in the overnight assault while three others were taken captive by Taliban militants, provincial councilor Safiullah Amiri and Aminullah Aydin told dpa.
The insurgents launched the attack from several directions on security checkpoints in the Dasht-e Archi district of Kunduz on Tuesday around midnight. The clashes continued through early Wednesday morning, the district governor Saduddin Sayyed said.
Sayyed also confirmed that Taliban seized weapons but said the checkpoints were now back under the control of government forces.
Only on Tuesday, at least 12 police officers were killed and six others wounded in an attack by Taliban militants on a police station in the capital of Baghlan province.
Kunduz is among the volatile provinces where the militant group has a huge presence and regularly carries out attacks against government forces.
The new wave of attacks against Afghan forces comes as the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad is in Brussels to update NATO officials on the recently relaunched US-Taliban talks.
