Afghan suicide blast kills Kandahar police chief

KANDAHAR: The police chief in the key southern Afghan province of Kandahar was killed by a Taliban suicide bomber Friday along with two of his bodyguards, officials said.

The killings at the police headquarters in Kandahar city are a serious blow to security in the province, seen as the birthplace of the Taliban and a pivotal battleground in the near ten-year war against the Islamist militants.

They are the latest in a wave of attacks against the 120,000-strong Afghan police, who are due to take on more responsibility for security ahead of the planned withdrawal of foreign combat troops in 2014.

"A suicide attacker detonated himself at the police headquarters. The police chief has been martyred," provincial spokesman Zalmai Ayubi said.

A spokesman for the interior ministry in Kabul, Zemarai Bashary, confirmed that the police chief, Khan Mohammad Mujahid, had died and said his two bodyguards were also killed.

"Two of his bodyguards were martyred in the suicide attack and three police personnel were also injured," he said. (AFP)