Afghan suicide attacks kill 6

KANDAHAR (Afghanistan)—Two suicide explosions in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Monday killed six people and wounded eight, officials said. They said a suicide bomber blew himself up in the city center, killing a senior anti-Taliban commander and three others. Eight people were also hurt in the blast which was followed by a second in which a suicide bomber died on the road leading to the airport when a bomb strapped to his body exploded prematurely, said Kandahar governor Assadullah Kahlid. There were no other casualties, he said. U.S.-led troops are based at Kandahar airport. “Both incidents were the work of suicide bombers of Taliban and al Qaeda,” Khalid said. Among the victims killed in the first blast was a former senior factional commander, Agha Shah, Kandahar police chief Colonel Mohammad Hakim said. “I can say now that at least four people, including Agha Shah, have lost their lives in the explosion,” Hakim said. Body parts from the victims of the first explosion were strewn on the dusty road outside Shah’s house in a crowded area of Kandahar. Shah was among local commanders who helped U.S.-led forces to overthrew the Taliban government in 2001. A Taliban commander, who identified himself as Sabir Momin, claimed responsibility for the first incident. There have now been four suicide attacks in less than a week in Kandahar, the Taliban’s former stronghold.