A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed seven policemen and two civilians in an attack in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province today, an official said.
"Six civilians and two police were also injured" in the blast, which targeted a police vehicle in a bazaar in the Kajaki
district around mid-afternoon, said Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
In a second attack in the province two hours later, a local intelligence official, two bodyguards and a civilian were killed in a mine explosion, he said.
"The NDS (National Directorate of Security) deputy director of Nad Ali district, his two bodyguards and a civilian were killed today when a remote controlled mine planted by the enemy exploded in Nad Ali district."
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the second attack, while the first also bore the hallmarks of the hardline Islamist movement.
The Taliban, toppled in late 2001 in a US-led invasion, is waging an insurgency against the government and US-led forces who have some 130,000 troops in the country.