Suicide attackers detonated two bombs in Afghanistan today and killed three policemen.
The target of one bomber was a provincial official travelling in a vehicle in the southeastern province of Paktika, a Taliban bastion near the border with neighbouring Pakistan.
The official survived, but one of his police bodyguards was killed, and two were wounded.
In the second attack in the relatively secure northern province of Kunduz, the bomber detonated an explosives-packed car as police pursued him, killing two policemen.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Taliban largely use suicide raids and roadside bomb attacks in their campaign against the government and Western troops stationed in Afghanistan.
Violence has surged in the past 19 months in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since US-led troops overthrew Taliban's government in 2001. More than 7,000 people have been killed in since early last year.