Afghan forces and Taliban clash after deadly assault in Helmand province

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2016/03/09/afghan-forces-and-taliban-clash-after-deadly-assault-helmand-province/0NBYtkz9Jf10IOkt5S6whP/story.html

Afghan forces and Taliban clash after deadly assault in Helmand province
By MUJIB MASHAL and TAIMOOR SHAH New York Times March 09, 2016

KABU — Afghan security forces were battling Taliban assailants who had attacked a number of government buildings in Helmand province on Wednesday, officials said.

As many as 10 Taliban fighters armed with light and heavy weapons, some with suicide vests, had stormed the police and intelligence buildings in Gereshk district, but resistance from the Afghan forces diverted their attack, the presidential envoy who was in charge of the fighting, Abdul Jabar Qahraman, said Wednesday afternoon.

The fighting, which blocked the main highway connecting the south and west of Afghanistan, continued for nearly eight hours after the assault began. Seven of the insurgents were killed, and three fled into a residential building that was under construction, Qahraman said.

A police official at the site of the attack said that three police officers had been killed and five had been wounded. Commando forces had arrived at the scene but had not managed to enter the residential building.