KHOST, Oct 24: The governor of Afghanistan’s Khost province, Arsala Jamal, survived a suicide attack on Wednesday, police said, but a provincial official collapsed and died while helping the wounded.

Two civilians and three bodyguards were hurt when a suicide bomber rammed his bomb-filled vehicle into the convoy of the governor, police said.

“The suicide attack hit his bodyguards’ vehicle, wounding three bodyguards and two civilians,” deputy provincial police chief Sayed Noor Hassan told AFP. “The governor is safe and sound,” he added.

Mr Jamal was returning to the provincial capital after inaugurating reconstruction projects in outlying districts when he was attacked.

Jamal, 41, himself told AFP in a brief telephone call: “I am ok.”

Wednesday’s suicide attack was the fifth targeting Jamal since he became governor of the volatile province on the border with Pakistan 18 months ago.

A provincial parliament member, who had been in the convoy, died while helping the wounded, the head of the Khost provincial council, Daud Khan Shaheedzoi, told AFP.

“A provincial council member, Zabit Khan Mujahed, who was not wounded in the blast today — he was helping the wounded and he fainted and died,” he said.

A bomb struck an Internet cafe in Gardez, wounding the owner.