Twin Blasts Hit Police HQ in Kandahar

By VOA News 07 September 2008

Afghan officials say two suicide bombers have attacked police headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar, killing at least six people, including some police officers.

A wounded Afghan police officer talks to the media after suicide attack on the police headquarters in Kandahar, south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, 07 Sept. 2008

Officials say the two bombers blew themselves up inside the police building Sunday. They say a police commander, Abdul Raziq, was wounded and may have been a target.

Police say Afghan forces immediately surrounded the compound following the blasts.

Also today, U.S. and Afghan officials say at least 20 militants died in two, separate incidents.

Officials say U.S.-led forces in the eastern province of Khost killed at least 10 militants, while another 10 died in southern Helmand province during an assault on a police post.

Afghan police say another attack -- on a NATO convoy in the western province of Herat -- failed, after a suicide bomber exploded himself but failed to injure anyone.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan this year, as Taliban militants have stepped up their insurgency with suicide and roadside bombings.