A weekend of violence in Afghanistan left 22 police and soldiers and three Taleban dead, with fugitive elements of the ousted regime vowing to increase attacks ahead of elections in September. Two separate attacks in the south and south-east of the country saw four police shot dead, six others captured and later found beheaded and 12 soldiers killed in a land mine blast, officials said on Sunday.
The police convoy came under attack during a routine patrol on Saturday in Helmand province.
"Four police were killed in the two-hour exchange of fire and six other missing police were later found beheaded with their heads atop their chests after a long search for them," said border district commander Mohammed Rasoul.
Helmand's governor Mullah Shir Mohammed alleged that the assailants had crossed the border from Pakistan.
"The Taleban attacked our border police in four vehicles," said Mohammed. "They came from Pakistan and escaped back into Pakistan and left the beheaded bodies close to the border."
A man claiming represent the Taleban regime called AFP from an unknown location and claimed responsibility for the attack.
In Paktia province on Sunday, at least 12 soldiers were killed and two wounded when their vehicle ran over a land mine, the provincial deputy police chief said.
It was also not known if any US troops were killed or wounded in the blast, Deputy Police Chief Ghulam Nabi Salim told AFP, while US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jerry O'Hara said he had no information on US casualties.
Meanwhile in Spin Boldak, Kandahar province, three Taleban were killed during clashes with police on Sunday, border brigade police commander Abdul Razeq told AFP.
Taleban spokesman Hakimi confirmed the deaths of the three.
"Three Taleban brothers were martyred in Spin Boldak today in a battle with police," he said.
In a separate incident on the Kandahar-Uruzgan highway, 15 fuel tankers supplying fuel to US bases in Uruzgan province were attacked by Taleban gunmen.
Two drivers were killed and all the trucks were torched, a high-ranking provincial intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Hakimi claimed responsibility for that attack also.
And in Kandahar's Nish district, police chief Niaz Mohammed said that two Taleban had been arrested as they were planting a roadside bomb.