MAIMANA, Afghanistan, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least three police officers and four Taliban militants were killed during clashes in Afghanistan's northern province of Faryab overnight, a local official said Friday.

"Hundreds of militants stormed a key police checkpoint in Dawlat Abad district Thursday night, causing heavy gunfight. The clashes caused three policemen and four militants killed," a provincial council official, Sibghatullah Selab, told Xinhua.

An unknown number of police personnel and four police vehicles were captured by Taliban, he said.

Security forces launched a search operation early Friday to track the fleeing militants in the area.

The province, 425 km northwest of Kabul, has been the scene of heavy clashes between Taliban and security forces from time to time.

Fighting has escalated in Afghanistan as the Taliban insurgency spreads from its traditional strongholds in the south and east to the once peaceful region in the north, where Taliban have been recruiting from the youth.