Insurgents kill 8 police in northern Afghanistan

KUNDUZ, AFGHANISTAN, Dec 14 (Reuters): Insurgents allied to the Taliban attacked a police post in northern Afghanistan killing eight policemen, a provincial official said today, in one of the bloodiest raids on Afghan security forces in the area.

The attack happened in northern Baghlan province, where raids on police checkpoints are rare.

Zalmai Mangal, a senior provincial official, said two fighters from Hezb-i-Islami, an Islamist group led by former fugitive prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, were also killed in the incident, which took place on a road on the outskirts of the provincialcapital.