Nato convoy hit by suicide bomber

A suicide car bomber struck a Nato convoy near an alliance base in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar today, killing one local…

A suicide car bomber struck a Nato convoy near an alliance base in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar today, killing one local civilian, witnesses and a police officer said.

Three Nato soldiers were wounded in the blast, a spokesman for the force said.

Nato troops cordoned off the site of the attack which happened near the house of the ousted Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar. It was being used as a base for the alliance.

Minutes after the attack, explosives attached to a bicycle went off in another part of the city, but caused no casualties.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan since 2006, the bloodiest period since the Taliban's removal from power in 2001. More than 12,000 people have been killed during this period.

Separately, a soldier from the US-led force was killed in an operation in the western province of Farah, the US military said in a statement.

The operation which involved Afghan forces, was aimed at a Taliban hideout in a district of the province, a police offical in the region said. He said two Afghan police and several Taliban militants were also killed.

Reuters