Afghan official says Taliban kill 10 police

FILE - In this Sunday, June. 18, 2017, file photo, security forces are deployed to the site of a suicide attack between Taliban insurgents and government forces near the main police station in eastern Paktia province, Afghanistan. In a message ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al Fitr, the Afghanistan Taliban leader, Maulvi Haibatullah Akhunzada Friday said a planned U.S. troop surge would not end the protracted war, vowing to fight on until a full withdrawal of NATO troops. (AP)

KABUL: An Afghan official says the Taliban have attacked a security post in western Afghanistan, killing at least 10 police and wounding another three.
Jelani Farhad, spokesman for the governor of the western Herat province, said the Taliban attacked late Saturday, setting off a gunbattle in which five insurgents were killed.
No one immediately claimed the attack.
The Taliban have steadily expanded their reach across Afghanistan since US and international forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, switching to a support and counterterrorism role.
In an address Sunday marking the start of Eid Al-Fitr, a major Muslim holiday, President Ashraf Ghani reiterated his call for the Taliban to return to peace talks.