At least 10 Afghan police officers killed in Taliban assault

Taliban insurgents attacked police checkpoints Sunday in volatile southern Afghanistan, killing at least 10 officers in the ongoing assault, ABC News quoted authorities as saying.

Mohammad Ismail Hotaki, the director of Helmand province's Joint Coordination Office, said that Taliban fighters attacked 10 police checkpoints in the province's Sangin district. Hotaki said Taliban fighters captured three checkpoints and continued to surge forward in their assault.

Hotaki said the violence killed at least 10 officers and wounded 16. Later, Sangin's deputy police chief, Haji Bari, said authorities recovered the corpses of at least 13 slain police officers, while 15 had been wounded. Such contradictory casualty figures are common amid an ongoing attack.

"We are in control of 80 percent of the checkpoints and are currently fighting with Taliban at two checkpoints," Bari said. "The Taliban numbers are high and they are attacking with full force. This level of force shows they are in a strong position to fight back."