KANDHAR, AFGHANISTAN // Two police officers and a civilian are dead after a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of a government office in southern Afghanistan. Zalmai Ayubi, a government spokesman, said three other police were wounded when officers tried to stop the bomber from entering the offices of the chief of Dand district in Kandahar province today. Suicide bombings are one of the Taliban's preferred tactics in their campaign to weaken the government of the president, Hamid Karzai, by attacking Afghan and foreign troops. A tally of official figures show that more than 5,400 people have died in insurgency-related violence this year. Most of the casualties are militants.
*AP
