Suicide bomber kills 9 rival insurgents

Asuicide bomber targeted a checkpoint run by rival insurgents in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province yesterday, killing nine of them, an Afghan official said.

Mohammad Saleem Rohdi, chief of the Gareshk district, said six other militants from a breakaway Taliban faction were wounded in the attack early yesterday.

Taliban spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment.

Rival Taliban factions have clashed in the past, with the supporters of Mullah Rasoul, a commander in Helmand, contesting the overall leadership of Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.

In the eastern Paktika province, a motorbike packed with explosives exploded near a local police commander’s house, killing a woman and four children, said Mohammad Rahman Ayaz, spokesman for the provincial governor.

He said another seven people were wounded in the blast, which was likely set off by remote control from a distance.

The police commander was not in the house at the time of the attack. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Ayaz said.

UN chief arrives

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in the Afghanistan capital on a surprise visit yesterday, the UN office in the country said.

“UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Kabul today and was welcomed by Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan,” the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) said in a statement.

“Secretary General Guterres’s visit signals the UN’s solidarity with the Afghan people and our commitment to staying the course at a time when Afghanistan is facing many challenges,” Yamamoto was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying.

The UN is determined to support an Afghan-led peace process, the statement added.