Suicide bomb kills one in Kabul. – File Photo

KABUL: A suicide car bomber attacked a police station in southern Afghanistan's largest city on Monday, killing one police officer in the blast, officials said.

The attacker drove a Toyota Corolla up to the checkpoint outside of the police station in Kandahar and detonated his explosives, said the city's police chief, Abdul Raziq.

Four people were wounded in the explosion _ two police officers and two civilians, he added.

Gunfire could be heard immediately following the blast, but Raziq said the shots came from the police.

A civilian compound nearby was also destroyed, according to a statement from the Kandahar government's media office.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but it fit the pattern of Taliban assaults, which usually focus on government installations or security forces.

The city of Kandahar has continued to be the target of attacks despite a massive campaign by Nato and Afghan forces last year to increase security in and around the city.

In the west, meanwhile, a police officer and a young boy were killed Sunday in a drive-by shooting in Shindand district in Herat province.

Mohammad Salim, a police commander in Shindand, said two men on a motorcycle drove up and fired shots at police officers who were shopping in the market. One officer and a boy who was standing nearby were killed.

Also in Shindand, a Turkish engineer who was working on construction projects was kidnapped over the weekend, Salim said. He said kidnappers forced the man into a car as he was leaving the airport on Saturday. He did not provide further details.