Taliban attack govt office, kill 3 soldiers

They also kidnapped four soldiers in the attack in Terwah district in the province of Paktika late on Sunday, provincial police chief Dawlat Khan told Reuters.

"They burnt down the building completely," Khan said by satellite phone from Paktika. "They apparently killed three soldiers and took four others with them."

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Terwah is close to Barmal district, where officials said scores fo suspected Taliban guerrillas killed at least six police troopers on Saturday before escaping into neighbouring Pakistan.

Official sestimate that 16 Taliban guerrillas were killed in the attack on Barmal.

"The size of Taliban force, I am told, was about 200 and they all fled to Pakistan," Khan said of Terwah raid.

The attack was the latest in a spate of violence that has swept the country in the past week, fuelling concern about an increasingly bold and resurgent Taliban movement operating from the porous border region with Pakistan.

Last week was one of the bloodiest weeks in Afghanistan since the Taliban was overthrown in late 2001 by a US-led military coalition.

At least 65 people were killed last Tuesday and Wednesday in a series of incidents, including a bomb on a passenger bus, a factional clash, fighting between government and Taliban guerrillas and an ambush on a local aid group.