Gunbattle in Kandahar, three Afghan police dead

KANDAHAR: A gunbattle between Afghan police and insurgents in the city of Kandahar on Wednesday killed three policemen and wounded eight people, officials said.

A spokesman for the interior ministry said the fighting was triggered by a police operation following a tip-off about the presence of two insurgents holed up in a house in the area, including one he said was a top Taliban commander.

The commander and one other insurgent were killed along with three Afghan police in the raid, said spokesman Siddiq Siddiqi.

"Our police had intelligence about the presence of some terrorists in a house in District 1. Police besieged the house and ordered the terrorists to surrender, but they refused and started fighting," he said.

"In the fighting both terrorists including a well-known deaf Taliban commander known as Mullah Kar were killed."

Siddiqi said three policemen were killed before the fighting ended, including the area's police commander named Gulab. He contradicted an earlier toll of four dead given by a hospital official.

Kandahar deputy provincial police chief confirmed to journalists at the scene that three policemen had been killed and eight people injured, including two other police officers.

"We surrounded the house last night. We tried to enter the house in the morning and the firefight started and as a result, eight people -- six police and two civilians -- were injured and three other policemen were martyred," said Abdullah, who goes by only one name.

Kandahar provincial spokesman Zalmai Ayubi said the gunfight began at 8:30 am (0400 GMT).

Siddiqi said explosive materials, including homemade bombs and other ammunition had been found in the house following the operation.

He said the raid was carried out by Afghan police and border police, while foreign forces had helped in defusing the found ordnance.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011