Eight Afghan policemen have been killed in an attack by suspected Taliban militants at a checkpoint in the country's south.
Local officials say the attack occurred early Wednesday morning near Lashkar Gah in Helmand province.
Officials say three other policemen were wounded and a fourth was missing. Authorities are investigating whether one police officer may have conspired in the attack.
On Tuesday, a suicide bombing outside a police station in the area killed at least two people and wounded several police officers.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
Lashkar Gah was one of seven areas where control of security passed from foreign to Afghan forces in July, as part of the first wave of a transitional process that is due to have all foreign combat forces leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
In other violence, a New Zealand special forces soldier was shot and killed during a gunbattle Wednesday with insurgents near the capital, Kabul.
New Zealand officials say the attack occurred in Wardak province where the special forces team was helping a group of Afghan police.
The soldier is the second member of the country's special forces unit to be killed in Afghanistan this year.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
