September 18, 2007	Tuesday	Ramazan 05, 1428

KANDAHAR, Sept 17: A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a district police headquarters in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing four policemen and four civilians, a government official said.

The extremist Taliban movement leading an insurgency against the Western-backed government claimed responsibility for the blast. The Islamic hardliners had vowed to step up their attacks during the holy month of Ramadan.

The attacker entered the main police offices in the Nad Ali district of insurgency-hit southern Helmand province and detonated explosives strapped to his body, district governor Mahboob Khan said.

“Four civilians and four police have been killed and seven others including the district police chief, Tor Jan, have been wounded,” he said. In Kabul, the interior ministry gave an initial death toll of seven dead — four policemen and three civilians.

“The suicide bomber had tied explosives to his body and as soon as he got near the door he blew himself up,” ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said. The district police chief had minor injuries to his hands, he said.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said the district police commander had been the target of the blast, which he said was carried out by a “devoted mujahedeen (holy fighter).” “A big number of people have been killed,” he said when contacted by AFP by telephone.

The extremist movement, which is backed by the Al Qaeda network, promised a rash of attacks during Ramadan, which started in Afghanistan on Thursday.

Monday’s attack was the first since the start of the holy month.

Previously, the latest suicide blast in Afghanistan was on September 11, also in Helmand.

That explosion set ablaze five fuel trucks, which an Afghan official said were supplying a NATO military base in the area. Five Afghan civilians were killed in the inferno.

An attack the day before in Helmand’s small town of Gereshk killed 29 people, mostly civilians.

It was one of the deadliest attacks since the Taliban launched an insurgency nearly six years ago after being removed from government for sheltering Al-Qaeda leaders wanted for the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Taliban-linked violence has grown steadily each year, peaking this year even though there are nearly 50,000 international soldiers in the country to help the weak Afghan forces beat back the insurgents.—AFP