NATO takes over Afghan south,blast kills 8 further east

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 31 (Reuters) A bomb in a police car killed at least eight people in Afghanistan today as NATO forces took control of security in the south of the country to begin one of the biggest ground operations in the alliance's history.

''NATO is here for the long term, for as long as the government and people of Afghanistan require our assistance,'' Lieutenant-General David Richards, the British NATO commander responsible for the south, said in a statement.

The car bomb attack occurred in the city of Jalalabad in the east the only part of Afghanistan where US-led coalition forces remain in charge following Monday's transfer of command in the south.

Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest phase since a Taliban government was ousted in 2001, and the guerrilla insurgency is concentrated in the south and east.

More than 1,700 people have been killed since the start of the year in attacks by Taliban guerrillas, drug gangs and U.S.-led coalition operations.

The bomb in Jalalabad targetted the convoy of Gul Afgha Sherzai, the governor of Nangarhar, as it drove away from a mosque where thousands of people had gathered to offer prayers for a former mujahideen commander, who died last week.

Sherzai escaped unhurt, but officials said five police and three children were killed while 16 other people were wounded.

''I was the target and it was the work of Afghanistan's enemies,'' Sherzai told Reuters, using a term usually taken to mean Taliban insurgents and their al Qaeda allies.

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