Government official among 6 killed in Afghanistan blast

An explosion Tuesday morning killed six people, including a top official of the eastern Afghan province of the Ghazni, officials said.

The blast killed the Ghazni province's deputy governor, his brother, his son, his driver and the two civilian bystanders. Eight people, including the bodyguards, were wounded, the governor's spokesman Ismail Jihangir said.

Mohammad Kazem Allahyar, the deputy governor, was on the way to work when a blast hit his vehicle, Jihangir said.

It was not clear whether the explosion, which occurred in the Ghazni City around 8 a.m. (11:30 p.m. ET Monday), was the result of a suicide bombing or a roadside bomb.

Earlier this month, an Afghan parliamentary candidate and another Afghan civilian were wounded in a grenade attack at the governor's compound in the Ghazni City, the International Security Assistance Force reported.