Nine Afghan security personnel killed in suicide attack

Nine Afghan security forces personnel were killed in a suicide attack Saturday south of the capital Kabul, provincial officials said. "A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle against Afghan police forces in the Azra district of Logar province," Din Mohammad Darwesh, spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP. "Six police officers and three soldiers were killed." District governor Hamidullah Hamid confirmed the attack. The Taliban claimed responsibility in an email statement sent to the media.
"A suicide bomber attacked a joint post of Afghan local police forces and army soldiers in Azra district of Logar province," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was quoted as saying. The Taliban, who often exaggerate the death tolls in their attacks, claimed three soldiers and 10 police were killed.
The militants, whose government was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2001, have intensified their attacks all around the country in recent months as Nato combat forces prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of the year. On October 14, six Afghan policemen were killed in a Taliban attack in Logar. The insurgents have also been making concerted pushes in the northern provinces of Kunduz and Faryab, and in north-eastern Badakhshan province.