GHAZNI, Afghanistan, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Militants loyal to the Taliban group ambushed and killed three police officers and injured two others in Afghanistan's eastern province of Ghazni, local police said Thursday.

The incident happened at about 5:00 p.m. local time Wednesday in Qarabagh district's Laywanay Bazaar area of the province, where a military convoy hit by an ambush from the insurgents, leaving three police personnel dead and two others wounded, a statement from the provincial police department said.

The Taliban group has also suffered casualties in an ensuing clash which lasted several hours overnight, the statement said.

Fighting rages across the war-torn country and clashes between security forces and Taliban militants have been continuing in at least 25 out of the country's 34 provinces since early April when the Taliban launched a yearly rebel offensive.

Fighting between government forces and Taliban fighters often gets intense in spring and summer as the seasons are locally branded as the fighting time of year.