The deputy mayor of Kandahar city in Afghanistan has died after being seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in the Taliban's power base, an official said.

Noor Ahmad Nazari, 55, was shot by two attackers riding on motorbikes while going home from work on Monday, provincial police chief Sardar Mohammad Zazai said.

The assailants escaped.

"He died of his wounds in the hospital overnight," Mr Zazai said.

Police blamed the killing on "enemies of Afghanistan" - a common reference to the Taliban.

"They don't want these honest people to serve the Afghan people and work in government institutions," Mr Zazai said.

Afghan officials and pro-government figures are prime targets for the Taliban and other insurgent groups who have been fighting for nearly nine years to dislodge the administration and evict foreign troops.

Assassinations have spiked in recent years in Kandahar, the spiritual capital of the Taliban, where US-led troops are vying for control - a critical part of their efforts to reverse the escalating insurgency.

Mr Nazari had been on the job only six months, appointed after deputy mayor Azizullah Yarmal was shot dead at point-blank range while praying at his local mosque in April.

- AFP