Afghan officials: 6 police killed in battle with IS

This photo taken by a freelance photographer Abdul Salam Khan using his smartphone on May 22 purports to show the destroyed vehicle in which Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour was traveling in the Ahmad Wal area in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, near Afghanistan’s border. A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Sunday that Mansour, the extremist group’s leader, has been killed in a US drone strike. AP

KABUL, Afghanistan—Afghan officials say six police officers, including a district police chief, have been killed by gunmen affiliated with the Islamic State group in the restive eastern Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan.

Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, says that IS-affiliated insurgents attacked the administrative headquarters in Haska Mina district at 2:00 a.m. Saturday.

He says 15 IS fighters were killed and seven wounded in the battle that followed.

Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal, spokesman for the Nangarhar police chief, says six police officers were wounded.

Nangarhar has long been plagued by insurgent groups. Last year militants there claimed allegiance to IS and the Taliban sent fighters against them.

In recent months, government troops backed by air strikes have claimed success against IS fighters, who are believed to be former Taliban members.