Woman in burqa and two accomplices kill 10 in suicide attack in Afghanistan following police chase in rush hour



A suicide bomber led police on a chase in the middle of rush-hour traffic before blowing the vehicle up outside a government building in Afghanistan this morning.

The blast outside a government office, in Herat province, has killed at least 10 people and wounded nearly 30 others.

The explosion seemed aimed at killing people waiting at the gate of a district headquarters building, as people were waiting to go inside to see government officials about various business matters.

Two men and a woman wearing a burqa were found dead inside the vehicle, but officials could not say which of the three occupants detonated the explosives.

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Afghan police arrive to move the bodies of victims from the site of a suicide attack in Herat province this morning. At least 10 people are dead

The area was covered in blood following the explosion, which occurred in Afghanistan's western Herat province near the border with Iran

Raouf Ahmedi, a spokesman for the police commander of the western region of Afghanistan, said police in the area had received a tip that the black four-wheel-drive vehicle was loaded with explosives.

Ahmedi said: 'They were chasing the car and tried to stop it.

'The vehicle then turned toward the district headquarters building and tried to pass the checkpoint, but police stopped them to be searched and asked where they were going.'

Moments later the vehicle exploded, causing a loud boom that could be heard a few miles away.

Ahmedi said 10 people were killed - three policemen who were guarding the district building and seven civilians.

He said twenty-seven others were wounded, including children.

Deadly: The suicide blast blew up a four-wheel-drive vehicle during rush hour outside a government office

Many injured: A survivor is rushed to hospital in the back of a police truck in Guzara, Herat province

Nasar Ahmad Popul, the chief of the province's Guzara district who was inside the headquarters at the time of the blast, said: 'The explosion was so strong - there are casualties among police and civilians.'



The Afghan Ministry of Interior said 11 people were killed and 22 were wounded.



Different casualty tolls are common in the immediate aftermath of big bombings.



Barriers at the blast site were blackened and investigators examined charred remains of what was left of the vehicle.

Afghans carry the body of a victim in Guzara following this morning's attack. Investigators are now searching the scene

Several of the wounded were loaded into the back of police pickup trucks and taken to a hospital. Rescue workers wrapped those killed in white sheets and carried them from the site.

Herat province, as well as most of western Afghanistan, is relatively calm as insurgents have concentrated their attacks in the country's south and east. The responsibility for nearly all of the province has been transferred, or is in the process of being transferred, from NATO troops to Afghan forces.

Tuesday's attack occurred between Herat city, the provincial capital, and the main airport in the area, which is located in Guzara district.