Kabul: The bodies of five Afghan policemen have been found in eastern Afghanistan nearly a week after they went missing after an attack by Taliban fighters on a local government headquarters, police said Sunday.
Wardak provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Haq Haqnawaz said villagers discovered the bodies Saturday night in Chek district.
Sixteen Afghan policemen went missing Nov. 1 after Taliban fighters overran the Khogyani district seat in Ghazni province and torched government buildings.
The bodies of four of the policemen were found a few days later in Ghazni city. Another seven are still missing.
Also in the east, NATO said two service members died in two different insurgents attacks Sunday. The coalition did not provide their nationalities or details about their deaths.
Separately, a vehicle hit a mine in Helmand province Sunday, killing five civilians. Provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi said the blast wounded seven other civilians, including two children.
In neighboring Kandahar, a government employee working at a prison in the city was shot and killed Sunday by insurgents, said Zelmai Ayubi, a spokesman for the local governor.
NATO and Afghan forces have been pushing hard into Taliban strongholds in the south and militants have responded with attacks on government officials and others aligned with the coalition.
Also during the weekend, a joint Afghan and coalition force killed a Taliban leader in Shahidi Hassas district of Uruzgan province in the southeast.
NATO said Mullah Mohammadullah, who was killed Saturday, was the Taliban`s shadow chief of the neighboring Dehraoud district and planned attacks against Afghan and coalition troops.
He distributed weapons and ammunition, directed numerous Taliban cell leaders and was the liaison between senior-level Taliban leaders in Pakistan and local insurgents.
The joint force killed the commander and an associate as they were trying to escape on a motorcycle.
Bureau Report
