Taliban attacks kill 23 members of Afghan security forces

KABUL – Afghan officials say two Taliban attacks targeted Afghan security checkpoints in the country’s west and east, killing at least 23 members of the security forces.

In western Ghor province, Abdul Hai Khateby, the governor’s spokesman, says 18 policemen and pro-government militiamen were killed and seven were wounded in hours-long gunbattle with insurgents near Feroz Koh, the provincial capital.

No group immediately took responsibility for the attack late Monday.

In eastern Logar province, Mohammad Naser Ghairat, a provincial councilman, says insurgents overran an army checkpoint in the district of Baraki Barak on Monday, killing five soldiers there.

Ghairat says four soldiers were also wounded while the Taliban captured four others. He says the insurgents stole a Humvee and ammunition from the checkpoint.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Logar attack.