Sep 6, 2008, 12:46 GMT
Kabul - A suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body, killing five people inside a governmental building in western Afghanistan, while seven Taliban insurgents and two police were killed in a clash in the same region, an official said Saturday.
The bomber, who had disguised himself as a beggar, entered the military prosecution building in Zaranj city, capital for Nimruz province, and detonated his explosives, Gholam Dastagir Azaad, provincial governor told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'The explosion completely destroyed the building, and killed five people inside,' he said, adding that top provincial attorney and his son were among the dead. Two civilians were also wounded.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Taliban militants whose government was toppled by US military invasion in late 2001 have waged a bloody insurgency against Western- backed Afghan government, using mostly suicide and roadside attacks.
Meanwhile, a group of Taliban militants attacked a police post in Ban Kamal area, on the western outskirts of Zaranj city, sparking a fierce clash with police forces, Azaad said.
'Seven Taliban militants were killed and their bodies were still on the battlefield,' the provincial governor said, adding that two policemen were killed and another was wounded in the firefight. The rest of the insurgents fled when reinforcements arrived, he added.
More than 3,800 people - mostly insurgents - have been killed in insurgency-related incidents in Afghanistan so far this year, according to Afghan and international military sources.
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