A shootout between police and Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan left nine militants dead and three police seriously wounded, a government official said Sunday. The Taliban attacked a police checkpoint in Gereshk district Saturday, sparking a two-hour gun battle, said Dawood Ahmadi, the provincial governor's spokesman. Six other Taliban were wounded in the clash, he was quoted as saying by Associated Press. Police captured two of the wounded militants and were in pursuit of the other four, Ahmadi said. Elsewhere Saturday, U.S.-led coalition forces killed three insurgents and captured four others in a clash outside the capital, the U.S. military said.
