Six Afghans beheaded 'by Taleban'

Six Afghan policemen have been beheaded after an ambush by suspected Taleban guerrillas, Afghan officials have said.

Four other police died and more were wounded when a 30-man convoy was caught in a two-hour gun battle in the southern province of Helmand.

The six police were seized and taken away. They were later found beheaded on a roadside after a lengthy search.

The Taleban were removed from power in 2001, but have stepped up attacks ahead of elections in September.

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Afghanistan

Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said the police patrol was ambushed just 200 metres from the border with Pakistan, and the killers then fled across the frontier.

Pakistan swiftly denied it was not doing enough to counter cross-border militant incursions.

Military spokesman Shaukat Sultan told the BBC that fewer than one attack in 10 in Afghanistan occurred close the border.

"I do not deny that incidents do not go from Pakistan, but not everything is happening from here," he said.

'Brutality'

Although rarer than in the Iraqi insurgency, there have been beheadings by militants in Afghanistan before.

Afghan police and soldiers are often targeted instead of more experienced, better-armed US troops.

The BBC's Andrew North, in Kabul, says the insurgents' aim is almost certainly to spread greater terror among police and soldiers operating in remote areas.

He says this incident stands out for its brutality, despite high levels of violence across the south and east of the country.

The attack comes a day after a man, claiming to be a Taleban spokesman, said the group had beheaded a US Navy Seal missing in Afghanistan for almost two weeks.

The US military says there is no evidence to support the claim and they were trying to locate the soldier.