Afghan suicide attack kills four

A suicide car bomb exploded near a bank in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan on Saturday, killing at least four people and wounding 22 others. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Reuters

Among the dead are a seven year-old girl and three young people. Ten soldiers and four policemen are among the wounded.

The blast took place near Kabul Bank, which is 50 metres from the governor’s office. Many police and soldiers had gathered at the bank to collect their salaries as the Eid festival approaches, which ends the holy month of Ramadan.

It remains unclear what the bomber was targeting.

Lashkar Gah was chosen as a test area to prove that Afghan forces could hold their own after the foreign military pull-out. British troops handed over power of the southern city to the Afghan army on July 20.

President Hamid Karzai is expected to announce which area of the country is next to transition in late September or October.

Foreign combat forces have vowed to leave the country entirely by the end of 2014.