6 killed in N Afghanistan clash

Afghan firefighters spray water on a U.S. armoured vehicle after a suicide attack on the outskirts of Jalalabad, January 5, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan -- Six people were killed after armed militants attacked two vehicles of a local firm in northern Afghan province of Baghlan on Wednesday morning, police said.

"Two four-wheel drive vehicles of a local company were attacked by militants in Charshanba Tipa of Baghlan-e-Markazi district, causing six workers killed and another injured," provincial police chief Gen. Aminullah Amarkhil told Xinhua.

The vehicles were running along a main road towards the neighboring Badakhshan province when the incident took place at around 7:00 a.m. (0230 GMT), and an investigation was launched into the incident, according to Amarkhil.

The targeted vehicles were belonging to a road construction firm, an unofficial source said, adding that three workers were missing after the clash.

The casualties were shifted to a hospital in the district north of provincial capital Puli Khumri, 160 km north of Afghan capital of Kabul, the police chief said.