Taliban kills 23 Afghan troops

At least 23 security personnel have been killed and dozens of others wounded in a series of attacks by the Taliban on security checkpoints in Afghanistan's northern Sar-e-Pul province, officials said yesterday. Fierce gun battles raged for several hours late on Monday in the centre of Sayyad district and outside the provincial capital, Sar-e-Pul, provincial council chief Mohammad Noor Rahmani said.