Afghan police commander killed

Afghan police officers at the site of an explosion in Kabul, earlier this month. File photograph.

The Afghan government says a top police officer has been killed by a roadside bomb during an operation against insurgents in the south. The Helmand provincial government said in a statement issued on Sunday that a police vehicle struck the explosive in Nahr-e-Saraj district while trying to clear the area of insurgents. The statement says the dead officer was a regional commander, but does not give his name or area of responsibility. Nine other police personnel were wounded.