Taliban poison and shoot dead 17 in Afghanistan

Taliban insurgents poisoned and then shot dead 17 people in an overnight attack on a government-backed militia post in eastern Afghanistan.

The militants somehow poisoned the people inside the outpost, incapacitating them, before killing them, said Abdul Jamhe Jamhe, a leader of the Ghazni provincial government. The method of poisoning was unclear.

The dead consisted of 10 members of the Afghan local police and seven of their civilian friends.

A spokesman for the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.