Bomb kills police chief in Afghanistan

Bomb kills police chief in Afghanistan

A roadside bomb in Kandahar province has killed the police chief of Dand district.

Officials say a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan has killed a district police chief, as fighters increasingly target Afghan security forces amid the draw-down of foreign troops. Ahmadulah Nazik, administrator of Dand district in Kandahar province, said Rahmatullah Khan died Saturday while trying to reach a police outpost said to be under Taliban attack. In a statement issued online, the provincial governor's office said governor Tooryalai Wesa "expresses his most heartfelt condolences to the family of Ramitullah Khan and prays for the quick recovery of the policeman wounded. He also strongly condemns this cowardly act of those enemies of peace". No group has claimed responsibility for the attack that also killed six fighters. Dand is the home district of the family of Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president. The killing comes a day after four policemen were shot dead in southern Helmand province by their own colleagues. Taliban spokesman Qari Jusuf Ahmedi said the killers fled and joined the armed group. The US-led NATO coalition is continuing its draw-down toward a planned withdrawal of the majority of combat troops in 2014. Insider and other attacks have thrown doubt on the capabilities of the Afghans to maintain control after the transition.