Unidentified armed men shot dead four police at an archeological site in the northern Balkh province, a private television channel reported Saturday.

Unknown armed men gunned down four policemen guarding an archeological site in Daulatabad district Friday night, Tolo TV said in its evening bulletin.

The culprits have made their good escape and police have yet to make any arrest, the television added.

However, police in the area pointed finger at antiques' smugglers, saying the bands of relics' thieves could be behind the bloody incident.

Balkh is famous for the old civilization of Bactrian in the region.

In order to check the illegal digging of archeological sites and smuggling antiques the Balkh provincial government has deployed 50 policemen on the archeological sites, Tolo stressed.

Source: Xinhua