By DPA,
Kabul : A member of parliament, a police commander and three bodyguards were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand Thursday, officials said.
“Amer Dad Mohammad Khan, a member of parliament, and Abdul Samad Khaksar, a local police commander were killed when a roadside bomb blew up their vehicle today (Thursday),” said Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor of Helmand.
He said the blast also caused several other casualties, but could not provide any exact figures.
However, Wali Khan Sabari, another Helmand lawmaker said that the bomb also killed three bodyguards.
The blast occurred in the Wazir Manda area of Gerishk district when Khan was en route from the neighbouring province of Kandahar to Lashkargah, the provincial capital of Helmand, Sabari said.
Khan was an influential figure in Helmand, where Taliban-led insurgents are the most active. He served as an intelligence chief after the fall of the Taliban regime until 2005, when he was elected to the lower house of parliament.
No one immediately took responsibility for Thursday’s attack. Taliban militants rely heavily on the use of roadside and suicide attacks as part of their insurgency.
Mir Wali Hemat, another member of parliament also confirmed the incident and blamed Taliban militants for the attack.
“Of course it was the work of the Taliban and they will kill anyone if they can,” he said.
The militants have carried out thousands of roadside bombings since the ouster of their regime in a US-led military invasion in late 2001.