Gunmen Kill 8 Private Security Guards in Afghanistan

Eight Afghan security guards and one militant were killed early Monday when Taliban insurgents attacked a security post in southern Helmand province.
Afghan authorities say two people were wounded in the gunfight in Gereshk district.

In western Herat province, a bomb blast claimed the lives of three Afghan civilians. Several others, including a policeman, were wounded.

Meanwhile, NATO said Monday a joint Afghan-coalition force discovered an insurgent weapon factory in Sangin district of Helmand province.

A NATO statement said the factory contained six 25-kilogram barrels of home-made explosives, scales, a boiler room and a drying room. A precision artillery strike destroyed the factory.

On Sunday, coalition forces killed at least 10 insurgents during air strikes in northern Baghlan province targeting a senior Taliban leader.

Also Sunday, a detainee in NATO's custody was found dead in his holding cell in southern Kandahar province. The alliance says it is investigating the circumstances of his death.