KANDAHAR: Taliban bombers on Tuesday targeted and killed an Afghan tribal elder and six of his bodyguards in the volatile southern province of Kandahar, officials said.
Abdul Wali, deputy head of Zhari district, was travelling from the provincial capital to his home when a roadside bomb detonated alongside his vehicle near the village of Sangi Sar.
Assassinating pro-government tribesmen and security forces is a key Taliban tactic despite a major US military "surge" designed to reverse the momentum of their 10-year insurgency against the Western-backed Afghan government.
"His vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb that martyred him and six of his bodyguards," Kandahar provincial spokesman Zalmai Ayubi told AFP.
"The enemies of Afghanistan are behind this incident," he added.
Shirshah Yusufzai, Kandahar police chief, confirmed the attack and the casualties.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi spokesman claimed responsibility for the assassination in a telephone call to AFP.
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