Afghan attacks leave three policemen dead

KABUL, Feb 15 (AP): Afghan officials say attacks in the country's north and west have killed three members of the security forces and two children.

The spokesman for the chief of police in northern Faryab province, Karim Yuresh, says a Taliban attack there killed three policemen in Qaysar district on Wednesday.

He says 10 Taliban insurgents were also killed in the ensuing gunbattle.

On Thursday, in western Herat province, a roadside mine exploded, killing two children.

Abdul Ahad Walizada, spokesman of the provincial chief police, blamed the Taliban.

An AFP report adds: Nearly 2,300 civilians were killed or wounded in suicide bombings and attacks in Afghanistan in 2017, more than any previous year of the conflict on record, a UN report said Thursday.

"2017 recorded the highest number of civilian casualties from suicide- and complex attacks in a single year in Afghanistan," said the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), with 605 killed and 1,690 wounded in such incidents as militants ramp up their urban assaults.