Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen stormed a police compound in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar Thursday, killing six security forces and wounding more than 12 other people.Afghan officials say at least three insurgents attacked the complex, detonating an ambulance full of explosives and waging an hours-long gunbattle with security forces before being killed.The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place near the main highway that connects Kandahar city with the Afghan capital, Kabul.Also Thursday, NATO said coalition and Afghan troops killed an Afghan border guard who shot and killed two U.S. soldiers earlier this week in northern Faryab province, while U.S. military advisers were holding talks with an Afghan military commander. NATO said the operation also led to the arrest of two insurgents.
In northeastern Kunar province, a joint force concluded operations in the Marawara district, after clearing out insurgents from several areas, killing more than 80 militants. The coalition said NATO and Afghan troops moved into the area near the Pakistani border to disrupt insurgents and protect the local population.In other violence Thursday, NATO said two of its service members died in two separate attacks. The first was killed in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, while the other died in a bomb blast in the south.In central Uruzgan province, the coalition said a joint force reclaimed a key checkpoint in the Shahid-e-Hassas district. NATO said insurgents took control of the checkpoint on March 23 during an attack that killed a police commander and several civilians.And protests against the burning of a Quran by a U.S. pastor continued in Afghanistan Thursday, with demonstrators marching through the streets of the capital, Kabul. No injuries were reported. More than 20 people have been killed during several days of protests against the Quran burning.
