7, including police chief, killed in Afghan attacks

Kabul, March 17 (IANS) At least seven people, including a senior police officer, have been killed and three others injured in two separate bomb attacks in Afghanistan, authorities said on Sunday.

In one incident in Kandahar province, police chief Hajji Zamari, head of the provincial Public Protection Police Force department, was killed along with three civilians following an improvised explosive device (IED) attack late on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The IED was planted at the gate of Zamari's garden. When the police chief arrived with his guests, the device detonated, leaving all four dead on the spot, police chief Tadeen Khan said.

In Ghazni province, three Afghan soldiers were killed and three others wounded after an IED targeted an army vehicle on Saturday evening, government spokesman Harif Noorim said.

Officials are blaming the Taliban for the attacks.