Taliban kills 6 Afghan cops

■ Vehicle was carrying 3,000 kg explosives

Kandahar, Afghanistan, Dec. 22: A suicide bomber drove an explosivespacked Humvee into a police compound in Afghanistan Friday, killing at least six officers and destroying a building, officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the predawn attack on the Maiwand district police headquarters in the southern province of Kandahar, the latest deadly assault by the insurgents, who have been increasingly targeting security installations.

The vehicle was carrying an estimated 3,000 kilogrammes ( 6,600 pounds) of explosives, Maiwand district police chief Sultan Mohammad told AFP.

It was not possible to verify his claim. If true, that would be roughly twice the number of explosives used in a massive truck bomb in Kabul that killed around 150 people in May.

“We have six police officers martyred and five wounded,” Mohammad said, adding the figures could change.

Kandahar police spokesman Ghorzang Afridi confirmed the death toll. “All the victims were local policemen,” Afridi said. Those killed were new recruits.

While Afghan officials routinely understate the casualty toll in attacks carried out by insurgents, it appears the attacker failed to reach the building where a large number of police were deployed.

Mohammad said the attacker got through the first checkpoint and then detonated the vehicle at the second security check after a policeman opened fire.