14 killed in suicide attacks, explosions in Afghanistan (Roundup)

KABUL, - Fourteen people, most of them civilians, were killed and more 50 wounded in explosions and suicide attacks in Afghanistan on Monday. Eight civilians were killed and 48 others wounded in a bomb blast followed by a suicide attack in the southeastern city of Khost, local officials said. Provincial police chief Abdul Qayoom Baqizoy said a bomb went off in front of the city's electric power headquarters and when people gathered at the site a bomber on a motorbike detonated explosives attached to his motorcycle. Health Department chief Dr Amir Badshah told the German Press Agency dpa that the state-run hospital received eight bodies and 54 wounded, all of them civilians. Ten of the wounded were in critical condition, he said. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied any involvement. In another incident in Khost province, a car driver was shot dead by NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) after he failed to heed warnings to stop in Mandozai district. 'After the driver failed to acknowledge the warnings, an ISAF soldier fired a shot in an attempt to disable the vehicle. Unfortunately, the shot killed a passenger in the car,' the military said. Elsewhere, three Afghan soldiers were killed and five wounded in a suicide attack by a motorcyclist against a military convoy in southern Kandahar province Monday morning. The soldiers were on a routine patrol to check newly constructed bridges on the Kandahar-Herat Highway in the Sanzari area of Zherai district when the attack occurred, district chief Niaz Muhammad said. Two women were also wounded in the attack and taken to Kandahar Civil Hospital for treatment, he added. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid immediately claimed responsibility for that attack. He said more than six foreign and 15 Afghan soldiers were killed by a Taliban suicide attacker named Rahmatullah. In another incident, an explosion inside an arms' depot in the eastern province of Nangarhar killed two civilians and wounded 20 people Monday morning, local officials said. The explosion took place at 5:30 am in the Farm-i-Hadda area south of Jalalabad, the provincial capital. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. The provincial Public Health deputy director said two local residents including a child were killed in the blast. Two of the injured were Afghan army soldiers and 18 residents of Hadda farm. Health worker Dr Baaz Muhammad, who visited the site, told