The Taliban killed 11 border guards in southern Afghanistan on Monday as other gunmen in the northern region assassinated a district intelligence chief, ABC News reported.
Additionally, Romanian authorities said two of their soldiers working with the NATO coalition died in eastern Afghanistan in a roadside bomb explosion.
Intelligence officer Abdul Hussain was gunned down on his way to work in Kunduz, according to police chief Ghulam Mohayuddin. No one immediately claimed responsibility for his death.
The 11 border patrol officers were attacked at a security checkpoint near Pakistan at the same time Hussain died. Gen. Tafser Khan of the southern border police said the assault happened late Sunday evening in Kandahar province.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahamdi claimed responsibility for the attack and death of 11 officers. There has been no report of militant deaths.
Acording to Khan, the Taliban fighters exchanged heavy fire with the police officers, who were outnumbered by the insurgents.
Meanwhile, the Romanian Defense Ministry said two of their troops died after stepping on a bomb while patrolling a region in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday. Both soldiers were flown by helicopter to a hospital near Kabul where the died of their injuries later that day.
On Monday, Defense Minister Mircea Dusa said the soldiers were killed in an explosion and declined to comment further. They were identified as Vasile Popa, 28, on his second mission to Afghanistan, and Adrian Postelnicu, 34, on his first mission.
Romania has sent 1,029 soldiers to serve in the NATO mission in Afghanistan, 22 of which have been killed. In total, 122 NATO troops have been killed this year, 92 of them from the U.S.
Just two days ago, Pakistan released top Taliban official Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar from prison.
