17 killed in police checkpoint attack in Afghan province

Up to 17 people including 10 Afghan policemen were killed overnight, following an armed attack in the country's eastern province of Ghazni, the provincial governor said on Wednesday. "A total of 10 Afghan Local Police (ALP) service members and seven civilians were killed by gunshots in Andar district Tuesday night," Governor Musa Khan Akbarzada told Xinhua. Earlier Wednesday, unofficial sources told local media that the victims were being poisoned and were shot dead in the province 100 km south of Kabul. They said the victims were poisoned by Taliban penetrated elements in Gadol area of the district before being shot by the gunmen. However, the governor said that two ALP officers were missing following the incident, adding "the police have initiated an investigation into the incident." The seven civilians who fell victim in the bloody incident, according to some sources, were the guests of police forces in the ill-fated checkpoint. The NATO and U.S.-funded ALP or community police was established in August 2010 to protect villages and districts around the insurgency-hit country where Afghan army and police have limited presence. Such incidents also happened in the past. Seven policemen were poisoned to deaths in Helmand province, some 555 km south of Kabul in summer last year. The Taliban insurgent group, which has been waging an insurgency since its regime was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, claimed the responsibility for the attack. The Taliban has warned the civilians to stay away from official gatherings, military convoys and centers regarded as the legitimate targets by militants besides warning people against supporting government and foreign troops.