7 killed in Afghanistan suicide attack

A suicide bomber attacked Indian road construction workers and their Afghan police escorts Thursday in southwestern Afghanistan, killing seven and wounding 12.

The convoy had been traveling on a main road toward the city of Khash Rod in Nimroz province when it was hit by a remote-controlled bomb that was planted on a motorcycle, wounding one policeman, said Nimroz Gov. Ghulam Dastagir Azad.

The convoy stopped after the first explosion, and a suicide bomber set off a second attack, killing six policemen and an Indian worker, Azad said. Ten policemen and two Indian workers were wounded.

Insurgency-related violence in the first three days of 2008 has left at least 42 people dead in Afghanistan, including those killed in Thursday's suicide attack.

Afghanistan saw a record level of violence in 2007, with more than 6,500 people killed, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.