KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers detonated explosives inside the headquarters of the main police station in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Sunday, killing two policemen and wounding 29 people, police said.
The blasts occurred hours after a suicide bomber blewhimself up in an attack on an Italian convoy in western Heraton Sunday, but there were no casualties.
A senior border police commander, Abdul Razaaq, was amongthe 25 officers who were wounded in the Kandahar explosions,police chief Matiuallah told reporters. The others wounded werecivilians.
Police cordoned off the roads leading to the policeheadquarters.
The attack is the latest in worsening violence in recentmonths in Afghanistan where the al Qaeda-backed Taliban havemade a comeback.
About 2,500 people, including 1,000 civilians, have beenkilled in fighting in the first six months this year, aidagencies say.
Earlier, officials said that U.S.-led soldiers, backed byair support, and Afghan police killed more than 20 Talibanfighters in two separate clashes.
A U.S. military statement said its forces killed more than10 insurgents during an operation in the southeast province ofKhost on Saturday, and did not mention any casualties on itsside.
In Helmand, a southern province also regarded as a Talibanstronghold, militants lost 10 men in an assault on a policepost, provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal said.Four police were wounded defending their post.
The Taliban could not be reached immediately for commentabout any of the incidents.
Ousted from power in 2001 after refusing to surrender itsal Qaeda guests, the Taliban militia intensified a campaign in2005 to drive out foreign forces and bring down President HamidKarzai's government.
Suicide bombers and roadside bomb attacks, ambushes andkidnapping are the guerrillas' favoured tactics.
On Saturday, the Taliban abducted four Afghan employees ofa security firm in Maidan Wardak province, on the main highwaysouthwest of Kabul, a provincial official said.
(Reporting by Reuters reporters; Writing by SayedSalahuddin; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
