Thirteen people including seven policemen were killed in Afghanistan Saturday in a series of explosions, one targeting a police headquarters, officials said. A suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate of the police station in eastern Khost province, killing the officers and one civilian, the government said.
"A suicide bomber exploded at the gate of the border police headquarters. Four police officers, three policemen and a civilian were martyred," said an interior ministry statement.
It was originally thought all eight victims in the attack, which also wounded 10 people, were policemen. The attack in Khost is the latest in a wave of Iraq-style suicide bombings. A police official who witnessed the incident told AFP he saw the suicide bomber arriving at the gate and then there was an explosion.
The militant, who was on foot, tried to enter the headquarters but the guards stopped him, said the witness, Salahuddin, who like many Afghans uses only one name.
Doctor Gul Mohammaddin Mohammadi at the Khost city hospital said that eight dead bodies were brought to the hospital. He said six wounded police were also admitted. Police said three suspected militants carrying explosives on their bodies were killed when their bombs went off just outside the southern city of Ghazni.