KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Two suicide bombers penetrated a government compound in the country’s south Sunday, killing five people, Afghan officials said. There were no reports of foreign troops or civilians at the site.
In neighboring Helmand province, a bomb planted at a bus station killed one policeman and wounded another person, a provincial official said.
The suicide attack was in the district of Spin Boldak in Kandahar province in one of the nation’s most violent areas. The district is a major infiltration corridor for Taliban fighters from Pakistan as well as a smuggling route for weapons and narcotics.
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said the group was responsible for the Spin Boldak attack. He said the Taliban did not orchestrate the bombing in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand.
Mohammad Hashim, district chief of Spin Boldak, said the two militants were targeting a meeting of local officials at a compound in the district of Kandahar province near the Pakistani border. Hashim said the two attackers arrived in a car, killed a guard and entered the facility firing weapons before blowing themselves up along with their vehicle. The compound houses offices of the district chief and district council as well as other government buildings.
The head of the provincial council, Hafiz Abdul Haleem, said five people died including one policeman and four civilians. Fifteen were wounded.
