IS militants kill 11 in mosque ambush: Afghan Govt

At least 10 police officers and the wife of a police commander were killed in an ambush by Islamic States group militants in northern Zawzjan province, a provincial official said.

Mohammad Reza Ghafori, spokesman for the Zawzjan provincial governor, said on Saturday that the police officers were ambushed on Friday as they were coming out of a mosque. The wife of the police commander heard about her husband being shot and rushed to the scene, where she was also killed.

IS-linked militants have been active in Afghanistan's eastern regions, but have recently begun operating in the north of the country as well.

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that around 38 militants, including 23 IS fighters, were killed in separate operations conducted by Afghan security forces in the eastern and southern regions of the country over the past two days.

Eight other militants were wounded and six arrested in the operations, which were conducted in districts across the Nangarhar and Helmand provinces, the statement added.

In another report from eastern Laghman province, two students were killed when a mortar struck a school's classroom, a news release from the Education ministry said.

The statement added that five other students were wounded inside the classroom in Mihterlam, the province's capital. There were unconfirmed reports the mortar was fired by Afghan security forces and missed its target and hit the school. The report could not immediately be verified by provincial or government officials.