Taliban storms district in eastern Afghan province

Several hundred of militants on Tuesday launched a massive attack on security checkpoints in eastern Afghan province of Logar, 60 km south of national capital of Kabul, where officials celebrated the 95th Independence Day earlier on the day.

"About 600 or 700 militants armed with heavy and light weapons stormed Charkh District center at around midday. The gunfight is still going on as the security forces are battling the Taliban militants in surrounding areas of the district headquarters," a security official in the province told Xinhua.

Casualties have not been determined so far, the source said.

Meanwhile, local sources said that at least seven army soldiers and police have been injured in the attack while several militants lost their lives during the clash.

A surge in attacks has been witnessed in the country since mid- May when the Taliban launched a yearly rebel offensive against Afghan security forces and NATO-led troops stationed in the country.

Afghan security forces took the full operational lead from foreign troops in mid-last year.

The Taliban insurgent group has launched several massive attacks over the past months to gain land as the security forces are struggling to take over the security responsibilities from NATO-led troops by the end of this year.

More than 44,000 NATO-led coalition troops, down from the peak of 130,000 in 2010, are stationed in Afghanistan. Some 30,700 of them are Americans and the United States plans to trim its forces to less than 10,000 next year.