(USA Today) A suicide bomber blew himself up next to the convoy of a border security commander Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, leaving five policemen dead, the commander said.
Elsewhere, Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces killed six militants, and a Canadian soldier was killed on a patrol, as authorities moved to quell a spike in insurgency-related violence.
The suicide attacker was wearing an explosive vest and riding a motorcycle when he struck the border security convoy in Spin Boldak district in Kandahar province near the Pakistan border, said district border security commander Abdul Raziq Khan, who was not hurt. Three other police and a civilian were wounded.
Afghan and Western security officials believe that many insurgents and suicide bombers train in Pakistan and cross the border to launch attacks. Spin Boldak has been a particularly dangerous and vulnerable area, and police and other security officials are frequently targeted.
A surge in insurgency-related violence this year has left more than 4,400 people dead, most of them militants, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.