A suicide bomber on a motorbike detonated his explosives in a crowded marketplace near Afghan police Saturday, killing seven people and wounding 29, officials said. The blast, near the border with Pakistan, killed two police and five civilians in the city of Spin Boldak in the southern province of Kandahar, said Zemeri Bashary, the Interior Ministry spokesman.
Such attacks against Afghan police have become a trademark of Taliban suicide bombers. More than 600 police have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, the Interior Ministry has said. Violence has killed more than 5,200 people this year, according to an Associated Press count based on official figures, the deadliest year since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.