Suicide attack kills four Afghan civilians, wounds eight

KABUL - A suicide bomber, who had strapped explosives around his body, detonated himself near a police vehicle in southern Helmand province, killing himself and four civilians and wounding eight, police said on Sunday.
The attack took place in Musa Qala district's main market on Sunday evening as the police were passing by in a vehicle, Mohammad Hussain Andewal, provincial police chief, told Deutsche Pressse- Agentur dpa.
‘Four civilians were killed in this attack, and five policemen and three civilians were wounded,’ Andewal said.
He said that the wounded, including two civilians in critical condition, were evacuated to a local hospital. He blamed Taleban militants for the attack.
Taleban militants carried out more than 160 suicide attacks last year in Afghanistan, a record year since their regime was ousted in a US military invasion in late 2001.
Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces retook control of Musa Qala in December after the Taleban militants had captured it and held sway there for 10 months.
Southern Helmand, the largest opium-producing province in Afghanistan, is severely plagued by the Taleban-led insurgency. The joint forces killed more than 150 insurgents in an operation earlier this month in Garmsir, another district in the province.
The provincial governor said last week that more than 500 militants, including a large number of foreign fighters, were still operating around Garmsir district.