KABUL, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- As a sign of focusing gun from their traditional base in the south, the Taliban insurgents have assembled in the relatively peaceful Kunduz province and begun attacking government interests there.

    In the latest string of attacks, the militants ambushed the motorcade of a former president and sitting parliamentarian Burhanudin Rabbani.

    Although, Rabbani escaped unhurt, the purported spokesman of militants Zabihullah Mujahid in talks with media from undisclosed location claimed destroying at least one vehicle of Rabbai's men.

    Meantime, police chief of Ali Abad district Baryali Khan told Xinhua that militants from three directions attacked on police checkpoints and police encountered leaving over 20 rebels dead and injured.

    Ealier, Militants on Wednesday night stormed Achin district killing police chief Noor Khan along with two bodyguards.

    The militias in efforts to consolidate their hold in Achin district have been keeping on pressure on police and inflicted fatalities.

    Clash flared up between police and Taliban insurgents in Achin district of Kunduz province north Afghan province have left over two dozen rebels dead and injured, provincial police chief Mohammad Razaq Yaqubi said Thursday.

    "The clash erupted late Wednesday night when the insurgents raided police checkpoint and police encountered killing nine insurgents," Yaqubi told Xinhua.

    He also added that sporadic fighting has been continuing during which 14 other rebels have been wounded.

    Two policemen have lost their lives and three others sustained injuries in the firefight, the police official further said.

    Not only in Achin, the militants have also several times carried out roadside bombs against Afghan and international troops in the districts of Chardara and Khanabad over the past couple of weeks.

    Some of the militants, according to locals, are foreign fighters.

    Security situation has been deteriorating in the relatively peaceful Kunduz province which borders Pakistan amid reports of the presence of Tahir Yaldash, the leader of radical Islamic militants of Uzbekistan.

    Yaldash, a close aide to al-Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden, according to media reports has shifted from Pakistan's lawless tribal area in the wake of Islamabad mounting military pressure on Taliban militants.

    Meantime, the militants occasionally target government interests in the neighboring Baghlan province creating security problems.

    Taliban militants have vowed to speed up attack and derail the Aug. 20 presidential election in the post-Taliban country.