Roadside bomb kill five policemen

KABUL (AP):

Afghan authorities say a roadside bomb has killed five Afghan policemen who were responding to a gun battle against insurgents at a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan.

Daoud Ahmadi, the spokesman in Helmand province, says a group of Taliban fighters attacked the police checkpoint at about 3 a.m. yesterday in Musa Qala district.

Afghan police called for reinforcements, but on the way, one of the police vehicles hit a roadside bomb, killing the five policemen.

Ahmadi says three other policemen were wounded in the four-hour gun battle against the insurgents. He says the bodies of 20 insurgents were recovered from the battlefield.