1st LD Writethru: Police officer killed, 3 injured in S. Afghan suicide bombing

A police officer was killed and three others injured in a suicide bomb attack in Kandahar city, capital of Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar on Saturday, the provincial government said.

"One terrorist detonated a car bomb next to a police van at around 10:30 a.m. local time (0600 GMT). The blast caused one police officer killed and three others injured," it said in a statement.

The attacker was also killed by the blast which occurred in Tiri Hada of the city, 450 km south of the Afghan capital of Kabul.

The security forces have cordoned off the area for precautionary measures and the injured were shifted to a hospital.

Among the injured was Hajji Farid, commander of Police Station No. 9 of Kandahar city, according to a provincial security source.

"Hajji Farid was the likely target of the attack. His car was running on the road when the explosion occurred. He has escaped several Taliban-link attacks in the past years. Fortunately, he received no life-threatening wounds," the source told Xinhua anonymously.

No group has claimed responsibility yet for the incident, but the Taliban insurgent group routinely claims responsibility for such attacks.

The Taliban militants have been on the rampage since April when they launched their annual offensive in different places in Afghanistan, killing and injuring hundreds.

Kandahar province, the birthplace of Taliban, has been the scene of sporadic clashes between Taliban and security forces over the past months. Endit