Suicide bombers kill 4 in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Two suicide bombers struck in Afghanistan's Parwan and Kandahar provinces Monday, killing at least four people and injuring many more, authorities said.

Afghan officials said two people died and 15 others were hurt when a car loaded with explosives detonated in front of the Parwan province government building in Charikar about 8 a.m., The New York Times reported.

The two who died in the blast were Afghan civilians, the BBC quoted officials as saying.

The BBC report quoted a U.S. military spokesman as saying two U.S. soldiers were among those injured. The British network said the attack occurred when a unit of U.S. troops from the Bagram base near Kabul was meeting the provincial governor.

Hours later, a remote-controlled bomb was set off in a marketplace in Spin Boldak district in Kandahar province, the Times said. That blast also claimed two civilian lives and wounded 19 more people, the newspaper said.

A provincial government spokesman said the bomb was meant for a passing police vehicle, but missed.

On Sunday, 16 people, including 13 Afghan children, died when an explosives-laden truck exploded outside a government building in Khost province in southeastern Afghanistan.