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Taliban militants shot dead the most high-profile female police officer in Afghanistan Sunday and killed four more policemen in other attacks.

The new violence, part of a Taliban-led insurgency sweeping Afghanistan, came as security officials said they had killed about 30 rebels in various operations, although there were allegations that civilians were among the dead.

Malalai Kakar, the most senior policewoman in the southern city of Kandahar and a mother of six, was shot dead by gunmen who had been waiting outside her home, government officials said.

Her teenaged son, who was driving her to work, was badly hurt.

"Malalai Kakar died in front of her house. Her son was wounded," Kandahar province government spokesman Zalmay Ayoobi said.

A doctor in the city's main hospital said Kakar, aged around 40, was shot in the head. "She died on the spot and her son was badly injured...," he said on condition of anonymity.

A spokesman for the extremist Taliban movement said the assassins were from his group.

"We killed Malalai Kakar," spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP. "She was our target and we successfully eliminated our target."

President Hamid Karzai said in a statement the killing was an "act of cowardice" by Afghanistan's "enemies."

The European Union in Afghanistan said Kakar had been an example to others in her country and her murder was ... >>>