Afghan police official gunned down

Gunmen shot dead the police chief of Sangcharak district in the northern Afghanistan province of Saripul Saturday, provincial Governor Abdul Jabbar Haqben said.

"A group of armed men opened fire and killed Hakim Beg, the police chief of Sangcharak district, at around 2 p.m. today," Haqben told Xinhua news agency.

However, he did not give more details.

Locals said that the district police chief was going to the provincial capital of Saripul, 350 km north of Kabul, when a group of Taliban militants ambushed him. Two other people were wounded in the attack, according to them.