Deputy governor killed in Afghanistan

The deputy governor of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, the spiritual home of the Taliban, was killed in a suicide car bomb attack on Saturday, local authorities said.

The deputy governor of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, the spiritual home of the Taliban, was killed in a suicide car bomb attack on Saturday, local authorities said.

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Abdul Latif Ashna was killed in the attack in Kandahar city while five others were wounded, the provincial press spokesman said, without providing further details.

Kandahar, the birthplace of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, is at the heart of a nine-year insurgency which 140,000 US-led NATO troops are battling to reverse in order to hand security control to the Afghan government by 2014.