News - Afghanistan

At least three people have been killed in a suicide attack on southern Kandahar province's National Directorate of Security (NDS) headquarters on Saturday, local officials said.

All three killed were staff of the intelligence agency and another four NDS employees were injured, provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq told TOLOnews.

The attack took place about 11:00 AM local time when a suicide bomber on foot detonated his explosives inside the gates of the NDS grounds in Kandahar's Maruf district.

Kandahar provincial spokesman Jawid Faisal confirmed that the seven casualties were NDS staff, but he said four NDS staff were killed and three were injured.

"The bomber was on foot and he crossed the first gate. He wanted to target the main office, but the employees recognised him [as a bomber] and he detonated his explosives before reached his target," he said.

No group including the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Maruf district lies east of the provincial capital Kandarhar city. It shares a border to the west with Pakistan and to the north with Zabul.

The suicide bombing comes five days after a similar attack on the NDS headquarters in neighbouring Helmand province.

Two staff of Helmand's NDS office were killed and as many as 12 civilians were injured on Monday when a suicide bomber drove with a van laden with explosives into the office in the capital Lashkar Gah.

Two Afghan police officers and another NDS officer were also injured in the attack, officials said.