[Quqnoos] A suicide bomber hit the vehicle of Minister Ismael Khan in western Herat province on Sunday, killing four civilians Afghan Minister of Energy and Water, Mohammad Ismael Khan, has survived the attempt on his life. "At least four civilians around were killed and 17 more, some of them students, were wounded," a police spokesman, Abdul Rauf Ahmadi said. The incident took place in the western Heart city this morning as the minister was driving to the airport to leave his hometown for the capital, Kabul, officials said. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack. The four dead included a woman and a child, according to an official. The explosion in Heart occurred outside a school.
Minister Ismael Khan landed in Kabul an hour after the incident and expressed his concerns over a worsened security situation in the relatively stable western Afghan province.