Taliban attacks kill at least 20 in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 21 (UPI) -- Taliban attacks in three locations in Afghanistan Wednesday left at least 20 police officers dead.

It was not clear if the attacks were part of the traditional spring Taliban offensive, or if they were related to Afghanistan's presidential runoff election, which begins Thursday.

Insurgents have fought government forces in a district government center in northern Badakhshan province for the past two days. Forty people are barricaded in an underground bunker in Yamgan district, said Gul Ahmad Bedar, deputy provincial governor.

Takliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the insurgents took over the Yamgan capital and killed 16 police officers. Bedar said eight were confirmed dead, but added those in the bunker had not been heard from in two days, and are running low on food and ammunition.

Afghan special forces troops have been sent to Yamgan.

In southern Zabul province, the bodies of eight police officers were found on a roadside. They were abducted in an Taliban ambush two weeks ago, said Jan Mohammad Rasolyaar, Nowbahar deputy governor said. He did not confirm reports the police officers were beheaded.

Four police officers were killed in an attack Tuesday on a checkpoint in Mehtarlam in eastern Afghanistan's Laghman province, Sarhadi Zawak, spokesman for the Laghman governor's office, confirmed.