11 Afghan police killed, bomber wounds minister

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 17 (Reuters) Roadside explosions killed 11 Afghan police officers and a government minister was wounded in a suicide bombing today in violence blamed on the Taliban, witnesses and officials said.

Information Minister Karim Khurram suffered facial injuries when the bomber rammed a car full of explosives into a vehicle carrying the minister and Assadullah Khalid, governor of the southern province of Kandahar.

Three civilians were killed in the attack in Kandahar city, a bastion for Taliban guerrillas.

''I am fine, but the information minister is wounded,'' Khalid told reporters after the attack.

The attack is part of the latest violence by suspected Taliban militants following the traditional winter lull.

Earlier in the day, two blasts killed 10 police officers in Kandahar city.

The first killed four police in their vehicle. When more officers arrived to carry away the bodies, a second blast went off. Six more officers were killed and a cameraman for the Arabic Al Jazeera television network was among the wounded.

A roadside bomb in Faizabad, the provincial capital of northeastern Badakhshan province, wounded the province's top police officer when the device damaged his vehicle. One of his bodyguards, a police officer, was killed and another wounded.

Another roadside bomb, aimed at a police vehicle, killed two civilians in the southeastern province of Paktia.

Officials said the Taliban were behind today's attacks.

The Taliban could not be contacted immediately for comment.

In the Kabul suburb of Khair Khana, police intercepted a cache of explosives being trucked into the city. Three people were arrested.

''We have discovered 30 bags of explosives, which were placed in a truck and they wanted to bring them inside Kabul to carry out terrorist acts,'' said Ali Shah Paktiawal, head of the police crime branch.

He said each bag contained 50 kg (110 lb) of explosives, which were meant for suicide bombings.

The bombings come just days after the death of the Taliban's top operational commander, Mullah Dadullah, who was killed in a US-led coalition raid in southern Afghanistan at the weekend.

More than 4,000 people, a quarter of them civilians, were killed in fighting in 2006, the most violent year since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

The militants have vowed to step up attacks on foreign forces, or anyone they believe cooperates with them, and say they have trained hundreds of suicide bombers.

Most attacks involve roadside bombs and suicide blasts.

Western troops, led by NATO and the US military, have also increased their ground and air operations to pre-empt the Taliban.

REUTERS PB VV2248