Bomb blasts damage Afghan politician's home

CHARBOLAK, Afghanistan, Apr 22 (Reuters) Two bombs badly damaged the home of an Afghan politician today in the generally peaceful north but caused no casualties.

A security official said Taliban insurgents or their allies might have been responsible for the attack, which follows a wave of Taliban violence that has included bombings and assassinations.

The politician, Akhter Mohammad Ibrahimkhil, said no one was in the parts of the house hit by the bombs which exploded minutes apart, in Charbolak in the northern province of Balkh, 50 km (30 miles) west of Mazar-i-Sharif.

''Our enemies want to eliminate political figures like me because we are working for the country,'' Ibrahimkhil said. It was too early to say who might have been responsible, he said.

Ibrahimkhil is a senior official in the party of a veteran moderate ethnic Pashtun leader, Pir Sayed Ahmed Gilani.

Though mostly active in the east and south, the Taliban have claimed responsibility for attacks in the west and north too.

Northern Afghanistan has also seen outbreaks of violence between different pro-government factions since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, but little of that trouble recently.

REUTERS SRS BST1537