Nearly 10 die in Afghanistan blast

Nearly ten people have been killed in a suspected Taliban attack in southern Afghanistan.

A policeman and four civilians were killed during a two-hour gunfight outside a police headquarters in Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar on Monday.

The attack started when a bomber dressed as a policeman detonated an explosives-laden car at the main gate of the compound in Kandahar’s Maiwand district.

Four heavily armed gunmen were also killed after they stormed the headquarters, government spokesman Sameem Khpalwak said.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi said the militant group targeted the police headquarters.

This year marks the deadliest since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, with many people dying every day in attacks carried out by Taliban across the country.

The militants have recently stepped up attacks against the Afghan troops, foreign forces, and civilians.

The group has vowed to escalate attacks on Afghan forces and US-led foreign troops and their bases as well as foreign diplomatic missions and vehicle convoys before the foreign forces partially exit the country at the end of 2014.