At least 22 people, including militants, policemen and civilians, have been killed in separate bomb explosions across Afghanistan. A suicide bomber attacked a citizen registration office in the government headquarters of Dand district, in southern province of Kandahar, killing nine and wounding eight others, provincial spokesman Zelmai Ayoubi said on Monday.
"In this incident, five policemen and four civilians were martyred," the interior ministry said in a statement. "Two policemen and six civilians were wounded."
The interior ministry blamed the attacks on the 'enemies of Afghanistan', a term used by Afghan officials to refer to Taliban and other insurgents.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Yousuf Ahmadi, called journalists to say his group was behind the attack which he claimed had killed Canadian troops and 30 Afghans.
However, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, under which Canadian soldiers serve, said none of its troops were harmed and it was not even certain if any of them were there.
Also on Monday, three policemen and five militants were killed in a roadside bomb in the eastern province of Paktia, which borders Pakistan, the interior ministry said.
The ministry also said that five insurgents were killed on Monday when bombs they were planting into roads in Khost province, also on the Pakistan border, blew up prematurely.
The US, under former President George W. Bush, invaded Afghanistan and removed the Taliban from power in 2001 as it sought to eliminate the terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks, including al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
More than seven years later, Bin Laden is still at large and the insurgents are stronger than ever in southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan where they have established control by providing crude government services and basic security.
About 2,200 civilians were killed in attacks and military actions in Afghanistan last year.
US President Barack Obama plans to send another 4,000 troops to Afghanistan in addition to 17,000 extra troops already deployed in a bid to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda extremists.
However, critics are skeptical that his new strategy would curb violence in the war-torn country.