Official: Eight dead in Afghan bombing

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Dual suicide bombers in Kandahar, Afghanistan, targeting a high-ranking police commander killed eight people Sunday, an official said.

Kandahar provincial council head Ahmad Wali Karzai said the victims included six police officers, but police commander Abdul Razaaq Khan survived the attack, CNN reported.

Provincial police chief Matiullah Khan confirmed the report that Khan survived the attack with some injuries, but said the death toll was only at two people with 29 people injured. Khan said the two suicide bombers were killed in the blasts.

Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousif Ahmadi said members of his militant group had carried out the deadly attack.

Ahmadi confirmed the bombers had been trying to kill Khan, who previously has been targeted by militants for his efforts to secure the Afghan/Pakistani border.

CNN said a suspected militant captured earlier this year allegedly confessed to a plot to kill Khan that was spoiled when the commander's bodyguards captured the would-be bomber.