KANDAHAR (AP) -- Taleban militants killed seven policemen after overrunning their checkpoints in southern Afghanistan on Friday, a police officer said. A purported Taleban commander said the officers were beheaded.

The officer, Abdul Hakim Jan, said six other officers were missing after the militants attacked police checkpoints in Arghandab district, in Kandahar province.
The attack in the strategic area of Arghandab, 15 miles north of Kandahar city, comes weeks after Afghan and foreign troops forced the Taliban to relinquish control of the town.
The militants had briefly captured the town following the death of pro-government tribal leader Mullah Naqib, who had kept the insurgents out of his region.
During the Friday attack, the militants briefly overran the police checkpoints set up to keep the Taleban fighters away and beheaded seven policemen, said a purported Taleban commander in the area, Mullah Mohammad Nabi.
It was not immediately possible to independently verify the account.
Separately, U.S.-led coalition troops clashed with militants in central Afghanistan on Thursday, leaving several suspected insurgents dead and one coalition member wounded, the coalition said.
The troops were searching compounds in Nawur district in Ghazni province when militants attacked with small arms fire, a coalition statement said.
""Coalition forces returned fire, killing a number of militants,"" the statement said. ""There were no indications of injuries or deaths to civilians not taking part in hostilities.""
Two other people were detained for questioning, the statement said.
More than 6,000 people have been killed in Afghanistan in insurgency-related violence in 2007, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.