Several dead in attack on Afghan police base

Five Taliban fighters and three policemen die after police base in Kandahar comes under attack.

Afghanistan - Kandahar map

An attack on a police base in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province has left several Taliban fighters and policemen dead, officials say.

The Taliban on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the attack on the border police post in Spin Boldak, a town in Kandahar province.

Police officials told Al Jazeera that five Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests attacked the police compound, leaving three police dead and five more wounded.

Two of the attackers blew themselves up and the remaining three were killed by police forces.

Spin Boldak is near the Chaman border crossing with Pakistan.

The Taliban also claimed responsibility for an attack in Kabul on Wednesday in which a magnetic bomb was attached to the army vehicle and exploded, killing a soldier and wounding a woman and a child.

A woman was killed and a child wounded in a further attack on Wednesday when a rocket was fired into a residential neighbourhood in eastern Ghazni province. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Each spring brings an escalation in fighting in Afghanistan with the end of snowy winter weather, which hampers movement. The melting of the snows opens up mountain passes allowing anti-government fighters to move in from neighbouring Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the Independent Election Commission said it would announce final results of the first round of presidential voting on Thursday.

Preliminary results released on April 26 point to a runoff between the top two candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies