KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, December 07, SPA -- A shootout between police and Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan left ninemilitants dead and three police seriously wounded, agovernment official said Sunday. The Taliban attacked a police checkpoint in Gereshkdistrict Saturday, sparking a two-hour gun battle, saidDawood Ahmadi, the provincial governor's spokesman. Sixother Taliban were wounded in the clash, he was quoted as saying by Associated Press. Police captured two of the wounded militants and were inpursuit of the other four, Ahmadi said. Elsewhere Saturday, U.S.-led coalition forces killed threeinsurgents and captured four others in a clash outside thecapital, the U.S. military said.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/614629