Four police were killed and three others injured as a roadside bomb blast organized by militants struck a police van in Khan Abad district of the northern Kunduz province on Monday, a local official Qudratullah Safi said.

"A mine planted by Taliban rebels on a road in Khan Abad district struck a police vehicle at around noon time killing four police personnel on the spot and injuring three others," Safi told Xinhua.

The police chief of Khan Abad district, Mullah Abdul Zahir was also inside the vehicle but he escaped unhurt, the official said.

Taliban militants after capturing Khan Abad district one week ago evacuated the district on Saturday following counter-offensives of government forces.

However, the militants before leaving the district planted scores of mines on the essential road linking Khan Abad to Kunduz city and Takhar's provincial capital Taluqan city. 

Source : XINHUA