Afghan suicide bomber kills eight

AFGHANISTAN: A suicide bomber killed eight people and wounded 24 others in an eastern Afghan town on Thursday, an official said, hours after a provincial governor survived a blast in a nearby Taliban hotspot.

The bomber detonated his explosive-filled jacket in front of a branch of the Kabul Bank in downtown Gardez, capital of Paktia province, said Rohullah Samon, a spokesman for the Paktia governor.

"This was a suicide attack. So far we know that eight people are dead, but that figure could change," he said, adding that the target appeared to be a private security convoy passing at the time.

"The head of a security company... was moving with his convoy when he was attacked by a suicide bomber wearing a suicide vest," Samon said. The dead included the security company manager, two of his guards, a butcher, two young girls and two other civilians.

"All were killed on the spot.... Twenty-four other civilians were wounded," he added.

Suicide attacks are a hallmark of the Taliban, who are waging an increasingly virulent insurgency aimed at toppling the Afghan government in Kabul and destabilising the rest of the impoverished country.

NATO and the United States have 113,000 troops deployed to help the government fight the militants, who are concentrated in the south and east of Afghanistan but are spreading their footprint further north and west.

Another 40,000 troops are due to arrive in the country this year, and the Taliban have vowed to match the international surge with one of their own.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was monitoring the situation in Gardez.

"The insurgents have again proven that they are the enemy of the Afghan people," Italian Brigadier General Luigi Scollo was quoted in a statement as saying.

"We strongly condemn these indiscriminate, cowardly acts of murder."

The militant group claimed responsibility for the Gardez attack, and also an incident earlier Thursday when a bomb planted in a rubbish bin wounded the acting governor of the eastern province of Khost and six other officials. KABUL, Friday, AFP