AFGHANISTAN

Guardian: 22 die in Taliban attack on police station

At least 22 people died when hundreds of suspected Taliban fighters
seized control of a police station in southern Afghanistan at the weekend, one
of the most serious attacks against the government for a year. At least
400 heavily armed gunmen poured into Barmal, 125 miles south-east of Kabul,
late on Saturday in a convoy of trucks. Mohammed Ali Jalali, the
governor of Paktika province, said they had come across the Pakistani border,
five miles away.

The fighters attacked the police station with rockets, heavy machine
guns and grenades. Seven policemen, including the district chief of police,
were killed, and at least 15 of the gunmen