KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- A suicide bomb attack on a mosque in Afghanistan's Helmand province Thursday killed six people including the deputy provincial governor, Voice of America said.
The explosion occurred during afternoon prayers in Lashkar Gah, capital of the province known as a Taliban stronghold and the country's main poppy growing area. The report said 18 people were injured.
Those killed included Per Mohammad, Helmand province deputy governor, VOA reported.
"(The) suicide bomber got into a mosque and detonated himself inside the mosque when the Muslim brothers were praying in the mosque," Interior Ministry spokesman Zamary Bashary said. "All of the injured and all of the (dead) people are those who were praying in the mosque."
Taliban insurgency has been escalating in the country despite the presence of about 50,000 U.S. and NATO-led troops. Some reports have said the militants finance their insurgency with opium grown in the province.
An Afghan army bus was targeted in Kabul in a suicide attack hours earlier. Several people were injured, the report said.
