Gunmen kill 4 policemen at a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan

Gunmen kill 4 Afghan police at checkpoint in south

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Gunmen killed four Afghan policemen at a checkpoint near a provincial government building in an overnight attack in southern Afghanistan, an official said Tuesday.

Authorities were not sure of the motive for the slayings or whether the Taliban was involved. The attack occurred about 2 a.m. near the Information and Cultural Affairs Ministry’s directorate in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, an area expected to be a major focus of fighting with the influx of 37,000 additional U.S. and NATO forces.

Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said it’s not clear who killed the officers. He said the policemen apparently had visitors and an investigation was under way into whether the attack was political or personal.

Taliban militants frequently target Afghan security forces and officials to undermine the U.S.-backed government.

In eastern Kunar province Tuesday, a NATO airstrike killed several insurgents who were maneuvering into fighting position in an area previously used to stage attacks on international forces, the coalition said in a statement.

Spokeswoman Maj. Virginia McCabe said the number of people killed was between five and 10 militants.

In Kabul, meanwhile, security officials gave the first detailed accounting of how a group of insurgents infiltrated the capital last week and launched a bold attack on government buildings in the city center.

Intelligence officials played a videotape for reporters from a man who allegedly sheltered the seven suicide bombers — all of whom died in the attack. The alleged ringleader — who was arrested a day after the attack — said operatives from the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani militant network ordered him to the capital from his home in eastern Nangarhar province.

“I received a phone call telling me to come to Kabul,” said Kamaluddin, who like many Afghans goes by one name. “The plan was organized by a commander for Jalaluddin Haqqani.”

He said a man named Bashir explained that he would bring seven suicide bombers and Kamaluddin was to keep them in a house he rented in the city and help organize the attack — including painting a vehicle loaded with explosives to look like an ambulance.

The Jan. 18 attack in the heart of Kabul paralyzed the city for hours and left five civilians and Afghan security forces dead, along with the assailants.

Kamaluddin supplied the bombers with suicide vests and ammunition, said Sayed Ansari, a spokesman for the Afghan intelligence service. He said they were still trying to identify the lead bombers in the attack.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Monday that he will press for the removal of some Taliban figures from a U.N. sanctions list and seek support for a reconciliation plan.

Karzai, speaking in Turkey ahead of Thursday’s international conference on Afghanistan to be held in London, said the U.S. and Europe back his plan to reconcile militants who are not aligned with al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.

British officials said that international funding for Karzai’s program is expected to be agreed to at the London meeting, but did not offer specifics on the likely amount to be pledged.

Ahead of the conference, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country plans to increase its troop contingent in Afghanistan by up to 850 and focus more strongly on training local security forces.

Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report from Kabul.