3 civilians killed in Afghan bombings

Roadside bombings and a suicide attack in southern Afghanistan killed three civilians and wounded nine others, a police chief said Wednesday.

A suicide bomber in a vehicle tried to attack a NATO convoy in Kandahar province's Zhari district Wednesday, but instead hit a private car and wounded four civilians inside, said Kandahar's police chief, Sayed Agha Saqib.

There were no casualties among NATO troops, he said.

Separately, a newly planted mine exploded under another civilian vehicle in the same district Tuesday, killing two civilians and wounding four others, Saqib said.

Also Tuesday, a vehicle carrying an Afghan road-working crew hit a mine in Kandahar's Panjwayi district, killing one laborer and wounding another, he said.

Saqib blamed Taliban militants for the attacks, which occurred on roads often used by Afghan and military forces.

Militants frequently use roadside bombs and suicide attacks against Afghan and foreign troops in the country, but most of the victims are civilians.

Last year was Afghanistan's most deadly since the ouster of the Taliban in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001. More than 6,500 people — mostly insurgents — died as a result of violence, according to an Associated Press count of figures provided by local and international officials.