Gunmen attack Afghan police base

Police training is a key plank in the Afghan security strategy

Gunmen have attacked a police training centre in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar and are battling security forces inside, officials say.

Reports from the base near Kandahar city say there was an explosion followed by gunfire.

Several attackers are involved in the raid, officials say. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Tens of thousands of Afghan police and troops are being trained to assume full security control once Nato leaves.

Afghan forces are frequently targeted by the Taliban and their allies who want to oust the Western-backed government of Hamid Karzai in Kabul.

Police say a number of armed men have taken up positions inside the training centre.

“They have been exchanging fire with police for the past hour. We have no report of casualties yet,” provincial police chief Khan Mohammad Mujahid told the AFP news agency.

He said the building was also used as a recruitment centre for army and police.

An AFP reporter at the scene says the area has been sealed off and helicopters are flying overhead.

Kandahar has seen some of the worst of the violence in Afghanistan in recent years and is seen as the spiritual homeland of the Taliban.

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