Suicide attack kills two in Afghanistan: officer

Two civilians were killed when a motorcycle-riding suicide bomber targeted NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan army officer said.

Two civilians were killed on Wednesday when a motorcycle-riding suicide bomber targeted NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan army officer said.

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"There was an explosion and we dragged two civilians' dead bodies from the spot," said Ghulam Jailani Khan, an Afghan army officer who was commanding Afghan troops in a convoy of local and foreign troops.

"A suicide bomber... detonated himself near the international troops", Khan said, adding that the area had been cordoned off.

He said the incident occurred in Shahjoy town of Zabul province. A NATO armoured vehicle was on fire, he said.

A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) could not immediately comment.

More than 100,000 NATO and US-led troops are helping the government battle a Taliban insurgency at its deadliest since US-led troops toppled the Islamist regime eight years ago.