Bismullah Afghanmal, the provincial governor of Zabul, said the police were ambushed while on a foot patrol in a mountainous area. He says several Taliban were also killed in yesterday's clash, but had no additional details.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a police official says 30 Islamic State militants have been killed in the eastern province of Nangarhar in the past 24 hours.
Police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashraqiwal says the IS fighters, including a senior judge for the extremist group, were killed in Afghan airstrikes and ground attacks. He says there were no casualties among the Afghan forces.