Afghanistan: Suicide bomber kills five civilians and a soldier

Five civilians and one soldier from the US-led coalition were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a military convoy as it drove through a town in southern Afghanistan, officials said today.

Officials say a suicide bomber has attacked a military convoy as it drove through a town in southern Afghanistan, killing five civilians and one soldier from the US-led coalition.

Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, the police chief of Helmand Province, said the lone bomber, who was on foot, struck as the vehicles were passing a market area in the town of Gereshk.

Mr Andiwal initially reported 10 civilians killed, but said later that city officials on the scene had given him mistaken information. He said the five civilian victims included two children. Four other civilians were wounded, he said.

Lt Col Paul Fanning, a spokesman for the US-led force in Afghanistan, said one of its troops also was killed. He declined to release the victim’s nationality.