Suicide bombers hit US, UN offices in Kandahar

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Suicide attackers on Monday blew up a truck bomb and raided UN and US charity offices in Kandahar city, killing five Afghans in the latest major attack on American interests in Afghanistan.

The bombers struck outside a compound housing offices of the UN and US-based International Relief and Development (IRD) in Kandahar, as Turkey gears up to host a major conference designed to quicken efforts to end the 10-year war.

The bombing came two days after 17 people died in the deadliest attack yet in Kabul against the US-led NATO mission, including 10 Americans, and three days after a US-run base in Kandahar was targeted.

One attacker detonated the vehicle outside the buildings, killing one unarmed watchman, before three others entered the joint compound, shooting dead three other guards, said provincial police chief Abdul Raziq.

He said the attackers holed themselves up in a veterinary clinic and fired on security forces, also killing a local district police chief before they were themselves shot dead after more than six hours.

"Fighting is over, all the attackers are dead. Search operations are ongoing," said Raziq.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said the insurgent group carried out a car bomb attack in Kandahar - the Taliban's former capital - claiming the UN refugee agency was the target.

A Western diplomat said the target was still unclear.

"At this point we are not sure if UNHCR in Kandahar or if the IRD compound was the target. They're adjacent to one another," he said.

The volatile city is the largest in southern Afghanistan and the birthplace of the Taliban, who have been fighting for a return to power since being ousted by the US-led invasion in late 2001 that followed the 9/11 attacks.