16 killed in Afghan blast, air attack

KABUL - A civilian and a police officer were killed in a bombing and a NATO airstrike killed 14 suspected Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, officials said Monday.

A motorbike bomb exploded Sunday in the centre of Sangin, a district in Helmand province, as a police convoy was passing, said Daoud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor.

Two police officers were injured in the blast, he said.

NATO said airstrikes were conducted Sunday in Uruzgan province after insurgents attacked Afghan and foreign military forces.

A NATO warplane killed 14 militants in three attacks with precision-guided ammunition, the statement said, adding that initial reports indicated that no civilians were hurt.

Taliban-led attacks are on the rise as Afghans are due to head to polling stations Saturday to elect members of the lower house of parliament for the second time since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.