Insurgent Killed By His Own Bomb In Afghanistan

A insurgent was torn to pieces by his own bomb when it exploded on a highway patrolled by Afghan and foreign troops in south-eastern Afghanistan, police said. Police believe the man was either a suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his body or had been planting the bomb at the side of the road on the outskirts of Khost city. “We found a torn-into-pieces body at the blast site on an empty road” leading to the Pakistani border, Khost police criminal investigation chief Colonel Mohammad Yaqoub said.“We think he was planting a roadside bomb or he himself was a suicide bomber who became the target of his own evil actions.” Separately Taleban rebels attacked the headquarters of Khaiwa district in eastern Nangarhar province, police said. A gun battle lasting several hours left a policeman injured and part of the district headquarters on fire. This year has seen a dramatic increase in suicide bombings, roadside blasts and other attacks on Afghan and foreign troops and government installations that have been blamed on Taleban insurgents. The extremist Taleban regrouped following their ousting by a US-led coalition in late 2001. The violence has claimed around 3,000 lives this year alone, most of them rebels.