Bomb blasts killed three people, including two policemen, and wounded 20 others on Monday in fresh attacks linked to an extremist insurgency.A suicide attacker blew up a car near a US base for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Khost, Afghan and US officials said. A 15-year-old boy was killed in the blast, said Dr Abdul Majeed from the town's main hospital. ISAF said five children were among 12 Afghans treated for injuries.
A second suicide bomber had apparently planned to blow himself up in the crowd that gathered after the first blast, but detonated his explosives without causing casualties, the interior ministry said. A policeman and civilian were also wounded when militants remotely detonated a roadside bomb next to a police vehicle in Khost. The town, close to Pakistan, has been battered by regular attacks in recent months.
Elsewhere, a roadside bomb exploded under a police vehicle in the southern Helmand province on Monday, a local official said. "Two policemen were killed and another four civilians were wounded in the blast," provincial spokesman Muhammad Daud Ahmadi said.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a news briefing on Monday that 2009 would not be an easy year in Afghanistan. "There will certainly be more violence, because we put more forces on the ground. Successful elections will be of extreme importance," he said. "2009 will also see an infusion of the United States forces in this operation," he said. "I strongly hope that we will also see the other allies step up with more forces," he hoped. De Hoop Scheffer repeated a call on the Afghan government to do more to improve governance and stamp out corruption and drug trafficking. The NATO chief reiterated the need to see the Afghanistan conflict in a more regional focus. He said the alliance would be looking to deepen political dialogue with Pakistan, an ally in the fight against militants.