1st LD Writethru: Three killed in eastern Afghan explosions

Three Afghan officials were killed Wednesday morning in two separate explosions in the eastern province of Nangarhar, the latest in a string of targeted killings, a provincial government spokesman said.

A senior provincial intelligence official named Ghulam Haidar Haidari was killed along his driver after his vehicle was attacked by a roadside bomb in Behsud district at around 9:30 a.m. local time, spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai told Xinhua.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, a logistic official with the Afghan Local Police (ALP) named Khan Wali was killed when a sticky bomb attached to his vehicle went off in neighboring Kama district, according to Abdulzai. "Two persons were also injured as a result of the explosions."

The officials were travelling to office when they came under attack in the province with Jalalabad as its capital, 120 km east of Afghan capital of Kabul.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks yet.

The Taliban militant group has intensified attacks over the past couple of months as the Afghan security forces assumed the full security responsibility from NATO-led troops since Jan. 1.

Security forces have found and defused five roadside bombs and landmine across the country since early Tuesday, according to Interior Ministry officials.

In a separate development, militants set free 19 demining personnel following mediation by tribal elders in eastern Paktia province late Tuesday, official sources confirmed.

The demining workers were abducted by gunmen on Sunday in the province, some 100 km south of Kabul. Enditem