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| Police Officers Are Killed at a Checkpoint in Afghanistan’s South | |
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| KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — At least five Afghan police officers were poisoned and then shot to death in the southern province of Helmand late on Sunday, according to Afghan officials, who said the attack was the third of its kind in the province in less than two weeks. | KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — At least five Afghan police officers were poisoned and then shot to death in the southern province of Helmand late on Sunday, according to Afghan officials, who said the attack was the third of its kind in the province in less than two weeks. |
| The assailant used his cousin, a police commander, to gain access to a checkpoint on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital of the volatile province, according to Ebadullah Khan, a member of the provincial council. The assailant poisoned the police officers and then allowed in Taliban forces, who killed all of the officers, he said. | The assailant used his cousin, a police commander, to gain access to a checkpoint on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital of the volatile province, according to Ebadullah Khan, a member of the provincial council. The assailant poisoned the police officers and then allowed in Taliban forces, who killed all of the officers, he said. |
| “What he did was unbelievable,” said Mr. Khan, who added that the attacker, who is still at large, said over the phone to him that he had killed his cousin and the other police officers. Mr. Khan would not identify the assailant because the investigation was continuing. | “What he did was unbelievable,” said Mr. Khan, who added that the attacker, who is still at large, said over the phone to him that he had killed his cousin and the other police officers. Mr. Khan would not identify the assailant because the investigation was continuing. |
| The attack raised alarm among provincial officials of a new tactic by resurgent Taliban against the Afghan security forces. In all three attacks over the past two weeks, an assailant or assailants used insider connections or dressed as officers to gain access to a police checkpoint. | |
| In two of the attacks, including the most recent, the perpetrator was a guest who had stayed for days at or around the checkpoint. In a third attack, the assailants were dressed as police officers. After each attack, officials said, the assailants fled and took with them the victims’ weapons. | In two of the attacks, including the most recent, the perpetrator was a guest who had stayed for days at or around the checkpoint. In a third attack, the assailants were dressed as police officers. After each attack, officials said, the assailants fled and took with them the victims’ weapons. |
| Afghan security forces, which have taken charge of security across the country, have suffered heavy casualties and setbacks this year. The American-led international coalition force here, which numbered more than 100,000 at its peak, has largely drawn down to a training and advising mission. | Afghan security forces, which have taken charge of security across the country, have suffered heavy casualties and setbacks this year. The American-led international coalition force here, which numbered more than 100,000 at its peak, has largely drawn down to a training and advising mission. |
| Mohammad Jan Rasolyaar, the deputy governor of Helmand, said that before the recent attacks instructions had been issued to police commanders not to allow civilians to stay at their checkpoints, but those rules were repeatedly broken. | Mohammad Jan Rasolyaar, the deputy governor of Helmand, said that before the recent attacks instructions had been issued to police commanders not to allow civilians to stay at their checkpoints, but those rules were repeatedly broken. |
| “Unfortunately, this is the third incident that has happened in Helmand Province,” Mr. Rasolyaar said. “It’s hard to know or track down the assailant because all the policemen who knew or invited him have been killed. The enemy is very smart; they leave no evidence to track them down.” | “Unfortunately, this is the third incident that has happened in Helmand Province,” Mr. Rasolyaar said. “It’s hard to know or track down the assailant because all the policemen who knew or invited him have been killed. The enemy is very smart; they leave no evidence to track them down.” |
| In a country where personal relations often trump official rules, the Taliban seem to be exploiting a weak point. | In a country where personal relations often trump official rules, the Taliban seem to be exploiting a weak point. |
| The attacker on Sunday had come to the outskirts of Lashkar Gah with his family from Baghran, a district that has remained under Taliban control for years, on the pretext that the Taliban had forced him out because his cousin worked for the government, according to Mr. Khan, the provincial council member. After staying at the checkpoint commander’s home for several nights, the attacker appeared to have persuaded his cousin to take him to the checkpoint, Mr. Khan said. | The attacker on Sunday had come to the outskirts of Lashkar Gah with his family from Baghran, a district that has remained under Taliban control for years, on the pretext that the Taliban had forced him out because his cousin worked for the government, according to Mr. Khan, the provincial council member. After staying at the checkpoint commander’s home for several nights, the attacker appeared to have persuaded his cousin to take him to the checkpoint, Mr. Khan said. |
| On Aug. 11, Taliban wearing police uniforms and driving in “government-confiscated vehicles” entered a checkpoint in the Musa Qala district, according to Nasir Ahmad Shakir, head of the security committee of the Helmand provincial council. The Taliban claimed they were friends of Gen. Abdul Raziq, the police chief of neighboring Kandahar Province and the security coordinator for the south. | On Aug. 11, Taliban wearing police uniforms and driving in “government-confiscated vehicles” entered a checkpoint in the Musa Qala district, according to Nasir Ahmad Shakir, head of the security committee of the Helmand provincial council. The Taliban claimed they were friends of Gen. Abdul Raziq, the police chief of neighboring Kandahar Province and the security coordinator for the south. |
| “The police were all taken hostage and then killed,” Mr. Shakir said. “In that security outpost, 15 police were stationed and all are killed.” | “The police were all taken hostage and then killed,” Mr. Shakir said. “In that security outpost, 15 police were stationed and all are killed.” |
| A few days before that, in the Gereshk district, a teenager staying at a checkpoint of the Afghan Local Police, a semiofficial militia now on the government payroll, poisoned six police officers and then shot them to death, according to a high-ranking police officer from the district who did not want his name published because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. | |
| “We do not know for what purpose he was allowed to stay at the check post,” the officer said. | “We do not know for what purpose he was allowed to stay at the check post,” the officer said. |