Taliban kills 10 Afghan security employees

Kabul, July 30: Taliban insurgents ambushed and killed 10 Afghan employees of a private security company in the south of the country today, the interior ministry said.

Three other staff of the company were wounded in the pre-dawn raid on a highway in the southern province of Zabul, it said in a statement.

The insurgents fled after the ambush, the ministry said.

A provincial official said the victims worked for a US private security company.

A Taliban spokesman said rebels fighting the Afghan government and foreign forces were behind the ambush. More than 6,500 people have been killed in the past 18 months, the bloodiest period since Taliban's removal from power in 2001.

Reuters>