KABUL — A Taliban ambush of a police convoy in western Afghanistan on Sunday killed 20 policemen, while 10 troops died in an insurgent attack on an army checkpoint in the north, Afghan officials said Monday as minority Shiites took to the streets in Kabul for a second day to protest the arrest of a local militia commander.

During the demonstrations, protesters opened fire on police, wounding four. The deputy interior minister, General Akhtar Mohammad Ibrahimi, said 44 policemen were also injured when protesters hurled stones and other objects at them.

The convoy was enroute to Lash wa Juwayn to introduce a newly appointed district police chief when it came under attack, said provincial council member Abdul Samad Salehi. The new chief was reportedly killed.

In northern Faryab province, the Taliban attacked an army checkpoint in Qaisar, killing 10 troops, said Mohammad Tahir Rahmani, head of the provincial council. Three soldiers were wounded. The fate of five others was unknown.

The Taliban, who in recent years have taken over nearly half of Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the Farah attack, the latest in a series of near-daily Taliban assaults on Afghan military and security forces throughout the country.

The Taliban view the US-backed government in Kabul as a dysfunctional Western puppet and have refused to negotiate with it.

The protesters in western Kabul were rallying to denounce the arrest of Abdul Ghani Alipoor, a Shiite militia leader in western Ghor province. The Afghan intelligence service accuses Alipoor of leading an illegal group that is behind extortion and other mafia-like behavior in the region.

On Sunday, hundreds clashed with police during a similar Shiite protest in Kabul. In that demonstration, three policemen were shot and wounded and 20 were injured by stones thrown by protesters who also torched two police checkpoints.

Beside Kabul, there were also protests on Monday in northern Balkh and central Bamyan provinces but no reports of violence there.

Associated Press