Afghan official: Taliban kill 8 police

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for attacks that killed eight Afghani police and wounded 15 others.

An Afghan official says at least eight police officers have been killed in separate attacks by Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan.

Colonel Asadullah Ensafi, the deputy police chief in Ghazni province, said on Saturday another 15 police officers were wounded in the attacks on police checkpoints in the province's Andar and Qarabagh districts.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, carried out on Friday.

Insurgents have targeted police checkpoints targeted in recent months, resulting in high casualties.

Separately, Ensafi says an Afghan airstrike killed 16 insurgents and wounded 17 late Friday in Ghazni's capital.

The war with the Taliban has been particularly tough this year for Afghan forces, who are fighting without international troops backing them up after the US and NATO ended their combat mission last year.