Nine Afghan security personnel killed in suicide attack

Taliban claims responsibility in email statement sent to media

AFGHANISTAN: Nine Afghan security forces personnel were killed in a suicide attack on  Saturday south of the capital Kabul, provincial officials said.

"A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle against Afghan police forces in the Azra district of Logar province," Din Mohammad Darwesh, spokesperson for the provincial governor, told AFP. "Six police officers and three soldiers were killed."

District governor Hamidullah Hamid confirmed the attack.

The Taliban claimed responsibility in an email statement sent to the media.

"A suicide bomber attacked a joint post of Afghan local police forces and army soldiers in Azra district of Logar province," Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid was quoted as saying.

The militants, whose government was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2001, have intensified their attacks all around the country in recent months as Nato combat forces prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

On October 14, six Afghan policemen were killed in a Taliban attack in Logar.

The insurgents have also been making concerted pushes in the northern provinces of Kunduz and Faryab, and in northeastern Badakhshan province, where 17 police were missing after the Taliban made a new push to seize territory last week.

The US military estimated in October that 7,000-9,000 Afghan police or troops had been killed or wounded so far this year.

New Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has signed a deal with the United States and Nato to allow 12,500 foreign troops, including 9,800 Americans to stay behind in 2015 to carry out military training after the alliance's combat mission ends.