The Taliban have killed 13 pro-government fighters in northern Afghanistan, ambushing them as they were on their way to take part in an operation against the insurgency, officials said yesterday.

The attack on the fighters, part of a local militia working with the government, took place Saturday afternoon in the volatile Chimtal district of northern Balkh province, some 40 kilometres from the provincial capital Mazar-i-Sharif.

It underscored rising insecurity in the war-torn country as the resurgent Taliban step up their assaults, with government forces struggling to contain them.