Suicide attack kills 10 in Afghanistan

KABUL - A suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a busy market in eastern Afghanistan Thursday, killing himself and nine other people and injuring 27 more, a government spokesman said.

The bomber targeted Baser Ahmad, a commander in the Afghan Campaign Forces that are allied with international troops in Gardez, the capital city of the south-eastern province of Paktia, Rohullah Samoon, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said.

“The bombing killed Baser Ahmad, two of his bodyguards, a border police officer and five civilians,” Samoon told DPA.

One police officer and 26 civilians were injured in the blast, he said.

NATO in Kabul confirmed the attack in a statement and said its forces were helping evacuate the injured people to the provincial hospital.

“The insurgents have again proven that they are the enemy of the Afghan people,” Italian General Luigi Scollo said in the statement. “We strongly condemn these indiscriminate, cowardly acts of murder.”