25 suspected Taliban, 4 police killed in Afghan clashes, bombing

Afghan and foreign forces clashed with Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, leaving 25 suspected insurgents and two policemen dead, officials said Friday. In southern Kandahar province, meanwhile, a roadside bomb hit a police patrol vehicle Friday, killing four policemen, said Zhari district chief Niaz Mohammad Serhadi. The southern provinces have been the arena of the heaviest fighting between insurgents and international forces in recent months.