KANDAHAR: Militants in suicide vests attacked the provincial council's office in Afghanistan's largest southern city yesterday in a multi-pronged attack that began with a car bomb explosion, officials said. At least nine people - including three attackers - died.

No easy path in Afghanistan
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Views today: 0Sorry, this video is no longer available.The co-ordinated assault underscored a new tactic by Afghan militants to launch multidirectional attacks against government offices. It mirrored a February attack in Kabul, where militants assaulted three government buildings simultaneously, killing 20.

Yesterday's attack killed five civilians and a police officer, said Zemeri Bashary, the Interior Ministry's spokesman.

The assault began when a car rigged with explosives detonated outside the offices of the provincial council.

Then three militants wearing suicide vests and carrying AK-47 assault rifles stormed the building just before noon, Mr Bashary said. Police killed two of the suicide attackers and the third one blew himself up, Mr Bashary said, bringing the death toll to at least nine.

Meanwhile, across the border in Pakistan, a suspected US drone fired two missiles yesterday at an alleged hideout connected to a Taliban leader who has threatened to attack Washington, killing 12 people and wounding several others, officials said.
The attack came a day after Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a police academy in the eastern city of Lahore, saying it was retaliation for US missile strikes on militant bases.

A local official said the compound attacked in a remote area of the Orakzai tribal region near the Afghan border belonged to one of Mehsud's commanders. Up to 30 suspected militants were at the compound when it was hit, he said.