Eleven Afghan Police Dead In Taliban Attack

MIRANJAN, Afghanistan — Taliban militants crept through groves of grape vines and pomegranate trees to launch a surprise assault yesterday, killing 11 policemen sleeping on a mud floor in southern Afghanistan.

The midnight attack at a small police outpost 15 miles north of Kandahar — the Taliban's former stronghold — was the latest assault against the vulnerable police force.

Insurgents sneaked up on the police checkpoint, killing an officer on the roof of the compound who was supposed to be keeping watch but who may have fallen asleep, a policeman sent as a replacement, Mohammad Rauf, said.

The attackers walked into the mud-brick compound and opened fire on officers sleeping on simple mattresses and blankets on the dirt floor, Mr. Rauf said.

Of the 12 officers at the compound, 11 were killed and one was seriously wounded, Mr. Rauf said.

After the attack, the compound, which is on the road leading from Kandahar to Uruzgan province, was filled with bloodstained blankets and the black shoes the police took off before they went to sleep. The ambush was the latest in a string of recent attacks on police in the south.