KABUL, July 2: A suicide bomber targeting an Afghan governor killed four people on Wednesday, while a US-led coalition helicopter crew escaped without serious injury after being shot down south of the capital, officials said.

The governor of Nimroz province, Ghulam Dastagir Azad, said a suicide bomber on foot blew himself up near the governor’s convoy on Wednesday afternoon, killing three police officers and a civilian. Azad said he was not wounded.

Also on Wednesday, gunfire brought down the UH-60 Black Hawk in the Kherwar district of Logar province. The pilots evacuated before it caught fire, a coalition statement said.

Another helicopter returned later and destroyed the wreckage with precision fire, it said.

Helicopter crashes have been among the deadliest incidents for international troops in Afghanistan.

Wednesday’s incident comes amid a surge in fighting between militants and security forces across the southern half of Afghanistan, including in provinces adjacent to the capital, Kabul.

Last week, three US soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were killed in a roadside bomb attack 70km south of the city.

Their deaths helped make June the deadliest month for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s ouster in 2001.—AP