Bomb blast hits Afghan governor's office
A police officer was killed and at least 14 civilians were hurt after a bomb exploded outside the provincial governor’s office in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
City police chief Sardar Mohammad Zazai said the explosives were strapped to a bicycle on the street outside the compound where the governor lives and works.
The governor was not inside at the time, his spokesman, Zulmai Ayubi, said.
Mr Ayubi said the 14 wounded included five children. Among the wounded, four were in critical condition, he said.
The attack comes as Nato prepares for a major operation to combat insurgents in Kandahar, the Taliban’s spiritual home.
It also comes a day after a national peace conference in Kabul urged the government of president Hamid Karzai to seek negotiations with the Taliban in a bid to end Afghanistan’s nearly nine-year war.
