About 80 Taliban fighters attacked a district chief's office in southern Afghanistan early Saturday, sparking a two-hour gunbattle with government militia that left three people dead, an official said. The insurgents launched the assault in Miana Shien district, about 90 kilometers (60 miles) north of Kandahar, around 1 a.m., firing assault rifles and heavy machine guns before retreating around 3 a.m. One government militia fighter was killed and two wounded, while two Taliban were killed and three wounded, said district chief Shadi Khan. "The Taliban left their two dead bodies, and took the three wounded with them when they ran away," Khan told The Associated Press. The government soldiers captured three AK-47 assault rifles and a machine gun.
