Afghan forces beat back Taliban siege

Afghan officials ended an early Friday morning siege in the country’s southeast region, where Taliban extremists killed at least 14 police officers as they attempted to take control of a provincial capital. Farid Ahmad Mashal, police chief of Ghazni province, said the militants unleashed gunfire and burned down several shops in the city of Ghazni. Mashal said responding police officers repulsed the attack and searched house-to-house for any hiding Taliban fighters, and Afghan troops on the ground called in airstrikes to try to quash the offensive, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people, the majority of them Taliban. Baz Mohammad Hemat, an administrator at the Ghazni city hospital, said at least 20 security officials sustained injuries. Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell, spokesman for the U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said the U.S. offered assistance with “close-air support and conducted one drone strike.” The Taliban continues to stage attacks, which have become more daring as the group carries out its annual offensive to try to capture enemy grounds. In a separate Thursday night attack in the western Herat province, militants killed six policemen, according to spokesman Gelani Farhad.