Afghan police: Suicide bomber kills 10

[April 13, 2011]  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A suicide bomber detonated his vest full of explosives on Wednesday, killing 10 people including an influential tribal elder and former military commander who supported the Afghan government, police said.

Malik Zareen, who led troops in Kunar province during the Soviet war in the 1980s, was the target of the midday bombing in Asmar district, said Khalilullah Ziayi, the provincial police chief. Most of those killed and seven others who were wounded were tribal elders, he said.

"Unfortunately, the suicide attacker targeted a local council meeting of the tribal elders," he said.

The province, along the Pakistan border, has been the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks. Six U.S. soldiers were killed in the area on March 29.

Also in the east, a NATO service member was killed in a roadside bomb attack Wednesday. So far this year, at least 115 foreign troops, have been killed in Afghanistan. The coalition did not disclose the nationality of the service member who died or where he was killed.

In Logar province, south of Kabul, a roadside bomb killed one person and wounded two others, according to the Afghan Ministry of Interior.

A statement from ministry said the three were riding on a tractor when the bomb exploded next to the vehicle.

[Associated Press; By RAHIM FAIEZ]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.