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Senior police officer shot and killed in S Afghanistan

Iran Press TV

Thu Jul 4, 2013 8:51PM GMT

Unknown gunmen have shot and killed a senior female police officer in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand, a provincial official says.

Islam Bibi “was shot by unknown assailants (in the city of Lashkar Gah) when she was being driven to work by her son in the morning. She was badly wounded and taken to hospital, and later died in emergency care,” said Helmand provincial spokesman Omar Zwak on Thursday.

The son of the 37-year-old woman was also wounded in the attack, Zwak added.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

On June 17, the Afghan Interior Ministry issued a statement saying that 299 police officers had been killed and 618 others injured during attacks carried out by militants from May 10 to June 13.

Almost 750 militants also had been killed and over 300 others nabbed following military operations across the country in the same period, the statement added.

Over 800 Afghan security forces and more than 360 civilians were reportedly killed in attacks in the country during the first five months of 2013.

In late April, the Taliban announced the start of their annual "spring offensive" against US-led and Afghan forces, vowing a new wave of attacks across Afghanistan.

The militant group said it would use "every possible tactic" to inflict casualties on Afghan and US-led forces. They specifically mentioned insider and bomb attacks.

The announcement prompted the Afghan authorities to tighten security in major cities across the country, including the capital Kabul.

The increasing number of casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger against the United States and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the Afghan war, which began in 2001.

The US-led war in Afghanistan removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan, despite the presence of about 100,000 US-led troops.

MAM/MHB