A group of Taliban insurgents ambushed and engaged with Afghan police late Sunday night, leaving at least 11 dead in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, said an official on Monday.

Amanalullah Khan, the deputy police chief of Kandahar city, the capital of Kandahar province, told Xinhua that Taliban rebels ambushed Afghan police in the Arghandab district of Kandahar city.

"The investigation is ongoing and we suspected there were some Taliban spies in our police team," Amanalullah said.

Meanwhile, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, the purported Taliban spokesman told Xinhua via phone from an unknown hideout that a number of 50 Taliban militants attacked and "completely destroyed" the Afghan police in the overnight battle, leaving at least 14 police dead and two police vehicles burned down.

"We captured another 15 machine guns from police as well," he added.

Conflicts and Taliban-related violence have left nearly 400 people dead so far this year in war-torn Afghanistan, where Taliban militants recently have vowed to launch the "Spring offensive" to intensify their guerrilla-style attacks on national army and foreign troops.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2008)