Seven dead as Afghan forces battle Taliban

Kandahar, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents attacked a government office in southern Afghanistan, sparking a gunfight with Afghan troops that killed seven people, police said Saturday.

Just to the north, the U.S. military said two American soldiers were wounded and their Afghan interpreter killed when their vehicle hit a mine.

Meanwhile, President Hamid Karzai sent troops to the town of Chagcharan in Ghor province, some 350 miles west of Kabul, which was overrun Thursday by a group of local warlords, forcing out the governor and the provincial security chiefs.

The gunfight in southern Afghanistan occurred late Friday when 60 Taliban attacked a government office in Mizan, a town in Zabul province some 230 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul, Zabul deputy police chief Ghulam Jailiani said.

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