TALUQAN, Afghanistan, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Ten personnel of local police were killed and nine others injured in an ambush by Taliban militants in Khawja Ghar district of Afghanistan's northern Takhar province on Friday, provincial police spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir said.

"Taliban militants ambushed a patrol team of local police in Pul-e-Momin area of Khawja Ghar district in the wee hours of Friday killing 10 personnel and injuring nine others," Asir told Xinhua.

The militants have also received casualties, the official said without providing more details.

Taliban militants have intensified activities in the northern Takhar and neighboring Kunduz and Badakhshan provinces as government forces mounted pressure in winter to shrink militants' operational abilities ahead of spring. 

An injured man receives medical treatment at a local hospital after a blast in Kishim district of Badakhshan province, Afghanistan, June 20, 2016. (Photo: Xinhua)