10 Afghan workers killed in Taliban ambush

Kabul: Taliban insurgents ambushed and killed 10 Afghan employees of a private security company in the south of the country on Monday, the interior ministry said.

Three other staff of the company were wounded in the pre-dawn raid on a highway in the southern province of Zabul, it said in a statement. The insurgents fled after the ambush, the ministry said.

A provincial official said the victims worked for a US private security company.

Hours before the ambush, Taliban insurgents stormed a police post in the southwestern province of Nimroz, killing five police and abducting four others, a provincial official said.

A Taliban spokesman said rebels fighting the Afghan government and foreign forces were behind the ambush.

More than 6,500 people have been killed in the past 18 months, the bloodiest period since Taliban's removal from power in 2001.