Afghan district police chief among 6 killed in bombings

A roadside bomb attack killed a district police chief and a fellow policeman in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, while four civilians died in a similar incident earlier the day.
"Khoja Omari District police chief Abdul Hadi and another policeman were killed while two policemen wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in eastern Ghazni province at around midday," the deputy provincial governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi told Xinhua.
The police chief was on board of his office vehicle and the unit was traveling from provincial capital Ghazni city, when the blast took place along the main road, said the official.
On Wednesday morning, a bomb hidden in a hand cart was detonated by a remote controller, killing four civilians and injuring nine others in northern Faryab province, Naim Andarabi, the deputy provincial police chief, told Xinhua.
A surge in attacks has been witnessed in the country since the Taliban launched a yearly rebel offensive against Afghan security forces and NATO-led troops stationed in the country in mid-May.
The war-torn country is due to take over the responsibility for its own security from foreign troops by the end of the year.
More than 51,000 coalition troops, down from the peak of 130, 000 in 2010, are stationed in Afghanistan, and the United States plans to trim its forces to less than 10,000 next year.