Afghan officials say the police chief for the southern province of Kandahar has been killed in a clash with Afghan special forces trained by the U.S.

A senior member of the Kandahar provincial council says at least nine other police officers were killed in Monday's clash outside the prosecutor's office in Kandahar city.  It is not clear what sparked the shootout.

Afghan officials said Sunday Taliban insurgents killed at least seven police officers in separate attacks in western Afghanistan on Saturday.

Authorities say five officers and at least seven Taliban fighters were killed when militants attacked a police post in Farah province, Posht-e-Rud.

Elsewhere in Farah Saturday, Taliban fighters ambushed Afghan police in Bala Boluk, triggering a battle in which two police officers and at least five insurgents were killed.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.