30 May 2012 Last updated at 05:05 ET

Eight Afghan police killed in Badakhshan Taliban clash

Eight Afghan policemen have been killed and two injured in fighting against the Taliban in the north-eastern province of Badakhshan, officials say.

A spokesman for the provincial governor told the BBC that at least two militants were killed in the fighting.

The three-hour gunfight took place in the remote mountainous district of Wardooj in north-eastern Badakhshan.

Separately a bomb in the south of the country has killed a Nato soldier, officials say.

The death brings the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan this year to 173. Nato has not provided any further details about Wednesday's attack.

Officials say that insurgents have been more active in Badakhshan in recent months - attacking the police and forcibly collecting taxes from locals.

In other developments:

• A tribal elder and two local officials were killed by a roadside bomb in Nangarhar province, officials say
• At least four people including a child were killed in a grenade attack in Nangarhar

The UN on Wednesday released new figures which showed that despite the latest violence, the number of civilians killed in the war in the first four months of 2012 had dropped by 21% over the same period in 2011.