In the latest bloodshed, blamed on Taliban who recently vowed to step up attacks against the Western-backed government, a district governor and his grown-up sons were ambushed and killed in the east, the Interior Ministry said. Muhammad Nader, governor of the Omna district in the eastern province of Paktika, was travelling with his family to go back home near the Pakistan border when the armed men attacked, the ministry said. "Police reinforcements have been dispatched to the area and an operation is underway," the ministry said in a statement. The Interior Ministry and local government in Paktika blamed the attack on the Taliban.
Elsewhere in Paktika, Afghan security forces backed by NATO troops and air power killed at least 15 Taliban in the early hours, the alliance said. They were killed after attacking the combined troops during a security patrol, the statement said. Further north, a rocket slammed into a wheat field in the eastern province of Kunar, which also lies on the Pakistani border, killing a beggar, provincial officials told AFP. An Afghan border policeman and three Taliban were killed in an exchange of fire initiated by the Taliban in eastern province of Nangarhar, said Muhammad Zaman Mamozai, the local border police chief. The policemen were collecting water from the river when Taliban attacked. In the centre of the country, the Afghan and US militaries said they killed four Al Qaeda-linked militants and detained 10 others during operations against extremists in Logar province.