Taliban's new offensive on government interests in the militancy-plagued Helmand province in south Afghanistan left two dead including a district chief and a police officer Friday night, deputy governor of the province Mullah Amir Akhundzada said Saturday.

The Taliban-linked militants in their latest attacks carried out last night in the districts of Musa Qala and Nawzad murdered the district chief of Musa Qala and a police officer in Nawzad besides wounding three other policemen," he told Xinhua via telephone.

During the counter attacks and exchange of fire three Taliban militias were also killed on the spot.

Militias loyal to the former Taliban regime in a string of coordinated attacks targeted government interests including police in the volatile Helmand province on early Friday had left some 23 dead and about 30 injured, with majority of them according to officials were rebels.

Taliban-led insurgency, which claimed over 1,500 lives in 2005, has left over 40 dead and some 60 wounded since the beginning of this year.

The ousted regime's elusive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar who has escaped the U.S.-led coalition troops manhunt in the region has frequently called on his followers to continue Jihad or holy till the eviction of foreign forces from Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua