Afghans kill 33 Taliban militants after deadly blast

Kandahar (Afghanistan), July 3: Afghan police killed 33 Taliban insurgents after a roadside bomb detonated by the militants killed eight policemen in the southern province of Kandahar, the provincial governor said today.

The policemen were killed yesterday and the same day police began a follow-up operation against the Taliban, Governor Assadullah Khalid said.

''As a result of the police operation 33 Taliban were killed and we had no casualties,'' Khalid told a news conference.

The Taliban could not immediately be reached for comment.

Violence has surged in the past 17 months in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since US-led troops overthrew the Taliban government in Kabul in late 2001.

Taking a lead from the Iraq insurgency, the Taliban have increasingly resorted to suicide and roadside bomb attacks against foreign troops or Afghan government targets.

REUTERS

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