Taliban storm checkpoint in western Afghanistan, killing 14

An Afghan official says Taliban insurgents have stormed a checkpoint in western Herat province, killing 14 pro-government militia members.

Police chief spokesman Abdul Ahid Walizada said on Wednesday that seven others were wounded in the Tuesday night attack in Robat Sangi district. He said an unspecified number of Taliban fighters suffered casualties.

Separately, in eastern Nangarhar province, governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogynai said a university professor was killed and two others wounded on Tuesday when a bomb attached to their vehicle detonated in Jalalabad, the provincial capital.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack in Herat but no one has claimed responsibility for the attack in Nangarhar, where both the Taliban and the local affiliate of the Islamic State group are active.