8 killed in Taliban suicide attack on Afghan police station

Kandahar, Dec 22 (IANS) At least eight people were killed and many others wounded after a Taliban suicide car bombing struck a district police station in Afghanistan's Kandahar province on Friday, the police said.

The attack occurred around 4.30 a.m. when a Taliban suicide bomber drove a hijacked explosive-laden military vehicle into the Maywand district police station, an Afghan police official told Xinhua news agency.

The death toll included seven policemen and the suicide bomber. Eight police personnel were wounded in the attack, the official said.

"Police officials manning the front gate of the station fired on the attacker... but they failed to stop the running vehicle," he said.

The official added that the assailant detonated the vehicle at the second gate of the compound where an Afghan Local Police (ALP) command and control post was also located. The massive explosion left the casualties and destroyed the ALP building.

Provincial police Chief General Abdul Raziq said an investigation was on into the incident.

Taliban claimed the responsibility for the attack in the district, western of provincial capital Kandahar city, 450 km south of Kabul.

The terror group has been on the rampage since the beginning of 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed full responsibilities of security from the US and NATO troops.

On November 12, one Afghan policeman was killed and a security checkpoint was destroyed when a Taliban militant attacked the post by a hijacked armored vehicle in the remote Maruf district of Kandahar.