Two Afghan gunmen have killed a police commander and six of his men at a checkpoint in a remote district in the country’s south.

Roadside bombs have killed 14 Afghan civilians, five policemen and one member of the US-led international military coalition in southern Afghanistan, Afghan and Nato authorities said today.

US-led coalition forces and Afghan police killed 20 suspected Taliban in the latest fighting to hit southern Afghanistan, as NATO today prepared to take command in the insurgency-wracked region.

AMERICAN troops caught in a gunfight with Afghan militants called in air strikes in fighting that killed at least 20 Taliban rebels.

American troops caught in a gunfight with Afghan militants called in air strikes in fighting that killed at least 20 Taliban rebels.