KABUL, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Four Taliban insurgents were killed as in clash with Afghan police in Afghanistan's southern Zabul province Saturday, a local police official said Sunday.

    "The clash took place in Shahjoi district on Saturday, in which four rebels were killed and three others made captive," a police officer Faridullah Khan told Xinhua.

    In the meantime, Taliban purported spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi denied the casualties, saying two policemen were killed in the firefight which lasted for few hours.

    Conflicts and Taliban-related violence have left more than 220 people dead so far this year in the war-torn central Asian country, where anti-government militants have vowed to intensify their guerrilla-style attacks.