A suicide bomber killed eight civilians and two policemen in an attack on a police convoy in a crowded bazaar in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province today.
The attack in the town of Musa Qala in Helmand was aimed at a police convoy, a provincial police spokesman said.
He said the bomber walked up to the convoy and detonated his device. Another 25 people, including two police, were wounded.
A spokeswoman for British forces in the area said there were no casualties among its soldiers.
The escalation of violence in Afghanistan this year, the bloodiest period since the Taliban was ousted in 2001, has raised fears about the prospects of stability in the country despite an increasing number of foreign troops.
Helmand is a major bastion for Taliban insurgents and is a key drug-producing region of Afghanistan, one of the world's top suppliers of heroin.