Twenty-six killed in violence across Afghanistan

KABUL (Reuters) – Taliban insurgents killed 10 Afghan security guards escorting a logistics convoy for U.S. forces in an ambush in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the head of the security detail said.Mohammad Salim said the attack took place on the main highway that runs through the province of Zabul.

Elsewhere, a roadside bomb killed three Afghan civilians and wounded 14 others in the southern province of Helmand, the local police chief said.

And the Afghan Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that 12 Taliban fighters and one soldier had been killed in clashes across the country.

Afghanistan is witnessing its worst period of violence since U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.