Afghan official: Taliban ambush misses police target, kills 2 civilians in volatile east

The body of an Afghan national army soldier lies in an army vehicle after he opened fire on U.S. troops, in the compound of the provincial governor, Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, April 8, 2015. The Afghan soldier opened fire on U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Wednesday, wounding three before he was shot dead by American troops, an official and an eyewitness said. The incident happened after a meeting between Afghan provincial leaders and a U.S. Embassy official. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

Afghanistan's security personnel look at the body of an Afghan national army soldier who was killed after he opened fire on U.S. troops, in the compound of the provincial governor, Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Wednesday, April 8, 2015. The Afghan soldier opened fire on U.S. troops on Wednesday, wounding three before he was shot dead by American troops, an official and an eyewitness said. The incident happened after a meeting between Afghan provincial leaders and a U.S. Embassy official. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

Afghan policemen console each other at the site of a deadly attack by an Afghan national army soldier who opened fire on U.S. troops, in the compound of the provincial governor, Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Wednesday, April 8, 2015. A U.S. official said an American soldier was killed in the shooting incident in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad in which at least two other U.S. troops were wounded when an Afghan soldier opened fire at them. The incident happened after a meeting Wednesday between Afghan provincial leaders and a U.S. Embassy official in the compound of the provincial governor in Jalalabad. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) (The Associated Press)

An Afghan official says two people have been killed and three wounded in an ambush aimed at police in eastern Kunar province, where the Taliban have a strong presence.

Farid Dhekhan, the spokesman for the provincial police chief, says the attack late Tuesday in Narang district was aimed at a police vehicle, which escaped unharmed. He says the dead were a man and woman from the same family. Dhekhan spoke Wednesday.

Kunar is on the eastern border with Pakistan and has long been an insurgent stronghold.

The Western-backed government's nearly 13-year war against the insurgents has intensified as both sides seek to strengthen their positions ahead of possible peace talks.