KANDAHAR, Dec 14: Three police officers died and five others were wounded when a bomb exploded near their vehicle in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, an official said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast in southern Kandahar city, which also wounded seven civilians who were passing by.

“The explosives were hidden in a wheelbarrow and remotely detonated to target a police vehicle,” provincial police chief Mutihullah Khan Qateh told AFP.

“Three policemen were killed in the explosion and five others wounded.

Seven civilians were also injured.” Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi, calling AFP from an unknown location, said the militant group was responsible.

Four British Marines and three Canadian soldiers have been killed in separate attacks in the past three days in southern Afghanistan.

MUSICIANS KIDNAPPED: Armed Taliban militants abducted six musicians and an election worker in eastern Afghanistan, one of whom was later found dead, a local official said Sunday.

The body of one musician was found on Sunday, one day after the group was kidnapped in Paktika province, provincial spokesman Hameedullah Jowak told AFP.

“One of the six musicians abducted yesterday by Taliban was found dead today in the district. We have no information on the fate of the other five,” he said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the hostages had flouted a ban on music, but denied killing the victim.—AFP