Roadside bomb kills four Afghans

HERAT, Afghanistan, Dec 21 (Reuters) A roadside bomb aimed at a senior Afghan police officer killed at least four civilians today and wounded four others and the policeman, police said.

The remote-controlled blast happened on a bridge on the main highway just south of the western city of Herat bordering Iran.

No further details were immediately available. Herat is generally considered one of the safest parts of Afghanistan in the bloodiest year since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in fighting this year, a quarter of them civilians.

REUTERS SP ND1516