KANDAHARCITY (PAN): Four policemen were killed and 10 others wounded in three back-to-back explosions in the southern province of Kandahar, officials said on Tuesday.

The blasts took place Monday night near Mirwais Nika Lycee in the Khwajak Baba area of 16th police district in Kandahar City, governor's spokesman, Zalmay Ayubi, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

A police patrol vehicle hit a roadside bomb at 7:30pm in the area. Shortly afterwards, two other explosions happened when security reinforcements arrived at the scene for a rescue operation, he added.

Two policemen were killed, 10 others injured in the bomb attacks in the southern city, where target killings and militant-linked violence have spiked in recent months.

However, a doctor at Mirwais Hospital said on condition of anonymity four bodies of policemen and eight wounded people, including six policemen, had been brought to the hospital. Two of the injured people were in critical condition, the source revealed.

They heard the sounds of seven consecutive explosions, followed by gunfire 15 minutes later, said a witness named Abdul Malik. The school building was partially destroyed, he added.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the blasts.

A day earlier, the deputy mayor of Kandahar City was seriously wounded in a militant attack. He succumbed to his injuries Tuesday morning. Hours later, a provincial ulema council member was shot dead.

myn/mud