Taliban kill 26 Afghan cops, soldiers in on-going siege

Washington: Taliban militants have reportedly surrounded a police compound in the southern province of Helmand in Afghanistan, post slaughtering 19 policemen and seven soldiers in an ongoing siege, a senior police officer said. Napas Khan, the police chief in Naw Zad district, said that the militants had moved within 20 metres of the compound after seizing police vehicles, weapons and blocking roads out of the area. He called for an “immediate response” from the government, reported ABC News. The assault began before dawn on Monday after Taliban insurgents attacked several police checkpoints across the Sangin district. The offensive came after NATO and U.S. forces ended their combat role in the country at the end of last year, leaving the responsibility of fighting the Taliban solely on the local Afghan troops.