Afghan Police Commander Killed in Suicide Attack

A suicide bomber on Saturday killed three people including the commander of a provincial Afghan police rapid reaction force and wounded 12 others, officials said.

The attacker blew himself up in front of the police unit's base in the eastern province of Khost on Saturday morning, Khost deputy police chief Mohammad Yahqoob Mandozai told Agence France Presse.

"The commander of the unit, Colonel Zaher ... has been killed", Mandozai said. "The suicide attacker who was waiting outside the base detonated himself as the vehicle carrying the police commander exited the base."

The interior ministry said in a statement that two policemen -- including Zaher -- and one civilian were killed in the attack, which also wounded four policemen and eight civilians.

Taliban insurgents were not immediately reachable for comment.

Khost, a volatile province in eastern Afghanistan, borders the Pakistani tribal area of Waziristan, where the Taliban are known to have rear bases. The province is a stronghold of the Haqqani network, which targets NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan, and other militant groups.

In May, a group of gunmen stormed the province's traffic department, triggering a clash that lasted several hours and killed six people.

Saturday's attack comes a day after a suicide attacker targeted the police chief for northern Kunduz province, who escaped unhurt. The attack killed four policemen.

Ousted from power in a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, the Taliban have increasingly targeted Afghan officials since they launched their spring offensive in early May.

The Afghan police commander for north of the country, General Mohammad Daoud Daoud was killed in a suicide attack in late May, along with five people, including two German soldiers and a police official.

A suicide attacker disguised as a policeman also killed the police chief for southern Kandahar province in April.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan Saturday, two policemen were killed and nine wounded when two successive blasts hit the eastern province of Laghman, also in the border with Pakistan.

The interior ministry said the first explosion occurred in the provincial capital Mehtar Lam, which caused no casualties, followed by a second explosion when police arrived at the scene, causing the fatalities.

There are around 130,000 U.S.-led international troops fighting the near decade-long Taliban insurgency.

A limited withdrawal of foreign troops is expected to began in July, ahead of a planned transition of responsibility to Afghan security forces due to be completed by end of 2014