KANDAHAR, April 1: A suicide bomber exploded a car bomb near an Afghan and foreign military convoy on Saturday while a top legislator was killed and five US soldiers were hurt in separate attacks, officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide blast in southern Kandahar, the third in the province in three days following a promise by the movement’s fugitive leader to step up a campaign of such attacks.

The attacker exploded his vehicle near a convoy in Maiwand district, army corps commander General Rahmatullah Raufi said. Troops opened fire on the bomber’s accomplice as he attempted to flee on a motorbike, he said.

A man claiming to be a Taliban spokesman said the attack was carried out by a Taliban insurgent named Haroon.

The US-led coalition confirmed some of its vehicles were part of the convoy.

Coalition troops also came under attack in eastern Kunar province on Saturday when a bomb hit their armoured vehicle in the Pech district, the coalition said in a statement.

Five US soldiers were wounded in the blast. They were taken to Bagram air base near the capital Kabul for treatment, but their conditions were not immediately known.

“They were then engaged by small-arms fire from an unknown-size enemy element and responded with small-arms fire,” the coalition said.

Unidentified gunmen killed the speaker of the provincial legislature in northeastern Takhar province after breaking into his home, police said.

Sayed Sadeq is believed to be the first lawmaker killed since the October inauguration of the war-torn country’s first parliament and provincial councils in more than 30 years.—AFP