KABUL, Afghanistan – A suicide attacker fatally shot a senior intelligence official Wednesday, then blew himself up as guards tried to arrest him in eastern Afghanistan (search), an official said.
Maj. Mohammed Isa Khan, deputy intelligence chief of Khost (search) province, was killed in the attack, said provincial government spokesman Hayatullah Taniwal. No one else was hurt in the explosion.
The assailant stopped Khan's car as he drove to his office in Khost city, 90 miles south of Kabul (search), Taniwal said.
"When (Khan) opened the window to talk to him, he pulled a gun out from under his blanket and opened fire," Taniwal said.
The man tried to flee, but three of Khan's bodyguards gave chase. "Then he blew himself up," Taniwal said.
Nobody claimed responsibility, but the ousted hard-line Taliban movement has warned of a wave of suicide and homicide attacks in Afghan cities, a new tactic in their campaign against foreign troops and the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.
Two soldiers -- one Canadian, one British -- from the international security force in Kabul were killed in separate attacks last month.
Meanwhile, a governor in another eastern Afghan province said Wednesday he had escaped unhurt from a separate bomb attack the day before he blamed on Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents.
Sayed Fazel Akbar, governor of Kunar province, said a remote-controlled bomb exploded Tuesday on a road near the provincial capital, Asadabad, as his vehicle was passing. He said the vehicle sustained minor damage, but no one was injured.
Akbar alleged he was targeted because of his support of Karzai and U.S.-led coalition forces.
"I was going to inaugurate a school built by the coalition forces when the bomb exploded," he told The Associated Press by telephone.
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