KABUL, Dec 3: A remote-controlled bomb blast and a separate ambush, both claimed by Taliban, killed a district chief and three policemen in southern Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday.

The bomb was detonated on Friday under the vehicle of the head of Shawali Kot district of southern Kandahar province, deputy head Obaidullah Khan said.

The official, Ayatullah Popal, and two of his bodyguards were killed. Three policemen were wounded, Mr Khan told AFP.

“The bomb was set by Taliban,” he said, adding an investigation was under way to find those responsible.

Also on Friday, Taliban fighters ambushed a routine police patrol in neighbouring Helmand province, provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Jan said.

At least one was killed and five others wounded in the attack in Nawzad district, he said, blaming it on loyalists of the Taliban.

A man who said he was a spokesman for the Taliban claimed responsibility for both of Friday’s incidents.—AFP