Reuters
Tuesday, March 21, 2006

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, March 20 -- Suspected Taliban gunmen on motorbikes shot and killed four Afghan policemen on Monday in a lawless southern province where 3,300 British troops will soon be based, a provincial official said.

The Taliban has vowed to launch a new offensive against foreign forces and the Western-backed government as Afghanistan's NATO allies, including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands, are sending thousands more troops.

The policemen were killed as they were driving along a road in the Mosa Qala district of the southern province of Helmand, said the district's administrative chief, Haji Mohammad Wali.

"The Taliban were on motorbikes. After they opened fire, they escaped," Wali said.

Helmand is a major opium-growing region, and officials say the Taliban is in league with drug gangs, complicating efforts to improve security and curb the drug trade.

The attack followed a particularly bloody spell in Afghanistan. Nine Afghan policemen were killed in a blast on Friday, and four U.S. troops were killed in an explosion a week ago.

Other incidents in recent days included the killing of four Macedonian workers kidnapped by the Taliban, the assassination of a powerful Taliban critic in an eastern province and the attempted killing of that province's governor.

The U.S. military has said it expects an increase in insurgent raids and bombings in coming months.

The expansion of Afghanistan's NATO-led peacekeeping mission from 9,000 to 16,000 troops is on course to be completed by the summer, a spokeswoman for the force said. As NATO troops take over responsibilities, the United States is hoping to cut the number of its troops in Afghanistan by several thousand to about 16,000.