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Nine people die in fresh Afghan violence

Nine people die in fresh Afghan violence KABUL, April 15 (KUNA) -- A suicide attack by Taliban and an air strike by the US-led coalition troops killed at least nine people, including Taliban and Afghan police, in southern Afghanistan on Sunday.
The suicide attack was carried out in the southern province of Kandahar around 11 a.m. (local time).
The bomber struck his explosive-packed car with a vehicle of a US security company on the road linking Kandahar city with the border district of Spin Boldak.
Witnesses said three policemen were killed in the attack, but Kandahar police chief Asmatullah Alizai told KUNA over the telephone that the dead were civilians. Two more people sustained injuries, added the police chief.
Separately, the US-led coalition forces said they had eliminated six Taliban fighters in an air raid, after the militants attacked them with rocket-propelled grenades.
A statement by the coalition forces' main Bagram base said the coalition and Afghan forces were on patrol in Sangin district of Helmand province, when the militants attacked them.
The joint forces returned small arms and mortar fire and called close air support. The coalition's aircraft targeted the Taliban positions killing six of them, said the statement.
Civilians living in the nearby areas, as well as the Afghan and coalition forces stayed unhurt in the fighting, added the military statement. (end) gk.rk KUNA 151438 Apr 07NNNN