Taliban strikes checkpoints in northeastern Afghanistan ; at least 8 killed

An Afghan official says the Taliban have targeted security checkpoints in northeastern Takhar province, killing eight members of the security forces. Wafiullah Rahmani, head of the provincial council, says three soldiers and five policemen were killed in Monday night's attack in Khwaja Bahaudin district. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The insurgents stage near-daily attacks on Afghan forces, even as peace efforts have accelerated to find an end to Afghanistan's 17-year war. Separately, Dadullah Qaneh, a councilman in western Farah province, says coalition forces on Sunday carried out airstrikes against Taliban-run heroin labs, killing 15 labourers.

But Mohibullah Mohib, the provincial police chief's spokesman, says those killed in Bakwa district were all members of the Taliban. The Taliban run most of Afghanistan's drug trade and control vast opium poppy fields.

(With inputs from agencies.)