12 Afghanis Killed in a Suicide Bomb and Other Attacks

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AP Headline: Suicide Attack at a Government Office in Southern Afghanistan Kills 8 Including 4 Policemen

A suicide bomber on foot entered a government office and blew himself up Monday in the volatile south, killing eight people, including four policemen, officials said.

The district police chief was among the seven people wounded in the attack on the Nad Ali district center in Helmand province, said district chief Mehbob Khan.

Four civilians were among the dead, Khan said. The seven wounded included policemen and civilians.

Helmand has been the front line in the battle between the Taliban and international forces in recent months and has seen some of the bloodiest fighting in the past two years. It is also the largest opium-producing area in the world.

More than 4,300 people have died in war attacks this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.

Among the latest casualties are 120 alleged Taliban fighters who were killed over the past 20 days in a joint U.S. coalition and Afghan operation in central Ghazni province, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

Last month, the Afghan army had dropped leaflets warning of impending military action in Ghazni - the province where 23 South Koreans were kidnapped in July - though the army said the operation had been long-planned and was not linked to the kidnappings.

"In the past 20 days of operations in Ghazni province, 120 (alleged Taliban fighters) have been killed. Five have been captured," said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemerai Bashary. It was not possible to confirm the figures independently.

Meanwhile, NATO and Afghan army troops came under fire Sunday morning in Surobi district, about 25 miles east of Kabul, and called in airstrikes, killing at least one (alleged Taliban fighter), said Maj. Charles Anthony, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

One weapons cache was destroyed, he said. There were no reports of NATO, Afghan army or civilian casualties.

Surobi police chief Gen. Yardil Nizami said the bombardment destroyed one house in the village of Gazbala, killing two men and wounding two others.

Nizami did not know if the casualties - all from the same family - were (alleged Taliban fighters) or civilians.

The Interior Ministry has sent a delegation to investigate the incident, Bashary said.

Associated Press Writers Amir Shah and Rahim Faiez contributed to this report from Kabul.

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