Suspected Taliban rebels attacked a local government office in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday with machine guns and rockets, triggering a gunbattle that left one policeman dead, an official said. The clash in the Argandab district in Zabul province also wounded three rebels, but they were taken away by insurgents who retreated after exchanging fire with Afghan forces, said district chief Haji Mohamed Sidiq. Elsewhere in the province, U.S.-led coalition forces on patrol in the mountainous area of Nauvahar came under fire from two Taliban rebels on late Monday, district chief Haji Mohamed Zarif said. The coalition troops surrounded the area and arrested the gunmen, he said. They retrieved from the rebels four hand grenades and two AK-47 machine guns, Zarif was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
