Suicide bomber hits security firm in Afghan south

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sep 11 (Reuters) A suicide bomber struck a US security firm convoy in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand today, a police official said, but there was no immediate word on whether there were any casualties.

The attack targeted a convoy carrying Afghan employees of the firm in Girishk district of the province, where 26 people, many of them civilians, were killed in twin suicide attacks yesterday, Helmand's police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal told reporters.

Violence has escalated in the past 19 months in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since US-led troops overthrew the Taliban in 2001.

Inspired by insurgents in Iraq, Taliban guerrillas now largely rely on suicide raids and roadside bomb attacks against the Afghan government and Western troops.

REUTERS SBC HT1612