Multiple blasts kill at least eight Afghan police

By Staff
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 17 (Reuters) A series of roadside explosions killed at least eight police officers in Afghanistan today, witnesses and officials said, in the latest eruption of violence in the country blamed on the Taliban.

A roadside bomb killed at least four police in their vehicle in the southern city of Kandahar, a bastion for Taliban guerrillas.

When another group of police arrived at the scene to carry away the bodies, a second blast went off near the site of the first explosion. At least three 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 hit his vehicle. One of his bodyguards was killed and another wounded.

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

Officials said the Taliban were behind the three separate attacks. The Taliban could not be contacted immediately for comment.

Ousted from power in 2001, the Taliban have stepped up their attacks the past few weeks after the traditional winter lull.

Most of them involve roadside bombs and suicide attacks, following last year's violence, the worst since their removal.

Western troops, led by NATO and the US military, have also increased their ground and air operations to pre-empt the Taliban in a year regarded as a crunch period for all sides in the war.

A US-led coalition raid killed the Taliban's top operational commander, Mullah Dadullah, in southern Afghanistan at the weekend.

REUTERS DS HS1239

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