UN vehicle bombed in Afghanistan

A roadside bomb hit a UN vehicle in southern Afghanistan today, killing four Nepalese security guards and an Afghan driver, a police official said.

The victims were travelling through Kandahar city in a grey vehicle with blue UN licence plates when the explosion hit, said Ahmad Jan Agha, a police officer at the scene.

Four Nepalese men working as UN security guards and their Afghan driver were killed in the blast, said Esmatullah Alizai, Kandahar's provincial police chief.

A UN spokesman in the capital, Kabul, confirmed there had been an incident involving a UN convoy in Kandahar, but provided no details.