Taliban militants kill nine police in Northern Afghanistan

At least nine Afghan police personnel were killed and ten others injured in a gunfight after the Taliban attacked a remote district in Northern Afghanistan on Saturday night.

"Militants stormed security checkpoints in the outer neighbourhood of Tashkan district Saturday night, triggering a gunfight. Sporadic clashes were ongoing Sunday around the district center and its local bazaar as security forces are fighting back the assailants," spokesman Sanaullah Rouhani said.

Several militants were also killed and wounded during the fighting but their number could not be exactly specified yet, he added.

The Taliban-led insurgency has been on the rampage since the beginning of 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed full responsibilities of security from the US and NATO troops, reports Xinhua.

The Taliban militants also intensified attacks against security forces across the country after they launched a yearly rebel offensive on Wednesday.

The mountainous province has been the scene of heavy clashes over the past months.

Earlier, the country's defence ministry said that six Taliban militants were killed and four others wounded during a cleanup operation in Tashkan district on Saturday.