GARDEZ, Afghanistan, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Five police personnel were killed in a bomb attack in Afghanistan's eastern province of Paktia, provincial police chief said on Tuesday.
"Five policemen, including a police officer, were killed following an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack in Ahmad Khel district late Monday night," Brigadier General Qadir Gul Zadran told Xinhua.
The police unit was conducting routine patrol and law enforcement activities, the police official said, adding that one police vehicle was also destroyed by the blast.
He blamed the Taliban militants for planting the IED in the province, 100 km south of Afghan capital of Kabul.
The Taliban militants, which ruled the country before they were ousted in late 2001, renewed armed insurgency with ambushes and suicide attacks, killing combatants as well as civilians.
The Afghan security forces' casualties have risen recently as they struggle against a surge in attacks by Taliban and other anti-government fighters. 
