Kabul:
A suicide bomber attacked a provincial governor's compound Saturday, causing a number of casualties among members of the international military coalition and Afghan security forces in an area of northern Afghanistan where security has deteriorated, coalition and Afghan police said.
The explosion happened as officials were meeting in the governor's office complex in Takhar province, according to Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a regional spokesman for the Afghan National Police who was attending the meeting when the blast occurred.
General Daood Daood, regional Afghan police commander in northern Afghanistan, died in the attack, Ahmadzai said. Daood is former deputy interior minister for counter narcotics and former body guard of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the charismatic Tajik leader who commanded the Northern Alliance and died in an Al Qaeda suicide bombing two days before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that provoked the U.S. invasion.
Major Tim James, a spokesman for the U.S.-led international military coalition said "initial reports indicate there have been a significant number" of casualties among members of the international coalition and Afghan national security forces. He could not provide further details.
Violence has been on the rise in the north, where there are known hide-outs for the Taliban, Al Qaeda and fighters from other militant factions, including the Haqqani network, Hizb-i-Islami and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. NATO has sent more troops to the north and has been pushing harder into militant-held areas.
In October 2010, a bomb killed Kunduz Gov. Mohammad Omar and 19 others in a crowded mosque in Takhar province. Omar was killed just days after he warned of escalating threats from Taliban and foreign fighters in the north.
In February, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to an Afghan government office in neighbouring Kunduz province, killing at least 30 people, including many who were waiting in line to obtain government identification cards. At least 40 others were wounded in the blast.