2nd LD Writethru: 8 killed in car bombing attack on police station in S. Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and many others wounded after a Taliban suicide car bombing struck a district police station in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, local police said Friday.

The attack occurred roughly at 04:30 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) Friday, after a Taliban suicide bomber drove a hijacked explosive-laden military vehicle into the Maywand district police station, a local police official told Xinhua anonymously.

The killed included seven policemen and the suicide bomber, and eight police personnel were also wounded in the attack, the source noted.

"Police manning the front gate of the station fired on the attacker in an effort to intercept the attack but they failed to stop the running vehicle," he said.

The official added that the assailant detonated the vehicle at the second gate of the compound, where an Afghan Local Police (ALP) command and control post was also located, and the massive explosion left the casualties and destroyed the ALP building.

The government established the ALP, or community police, in 2010 to protect villages and districts around the country where army and police have limited presence.

Provincial police Chief Gen. Abdul Raziq confirmed to Xinhua the incident, saying "an investigation is still on into the incident and details will be shared with media later in the day."

Taliban insurgent group has claimed responsibility for the attack in the district, western of provincial capital Kandahar city, 450 km south of Kabul.

The Taliban insurgency has been on the rampage since the beginning of 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed full responsibilities of security from the U.S. and NATO troops.

The Taliban militants have used more than five hijacked military vehicles to target security forces in the past couple of months.

On Nov. 12, one Afghan policeman was killed and a security checkpoint was destroyed when a Taliban fighter attacked the post by a hijacked armored vehicle in the remote Maruf district of Kandahar. Enditem