Suicide bomb on Afghan-Pakistan border kills 2

A suicide bomber attacked a border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Friday, killing two people including a senior Afghan police commander near a customs gate, officials said. The attacker crossed from Pakistan to Spin Boldak on the Afghan side where he blew himself up, the Afghan officials said. The Chaman crossing is a key route from the Pakistani city of Quetta, which gives its name to the Taliban leadership council, and Kandahar, the insurgency's heartland in southern Afghanistan. "A suicide bomber wearing a vest of explosives crossed the border into Kandahar's Spin Boldak district this morning and blew himself up, killing two," Javed Faisal, spokesman for the Kandahar governor, told AFP. "A top border police commander and a civilian were killed, and eight others, including two border police and civilians were wounded," he added. Kandahar police chief General Abdul Raziq confirmed the attack. Pakistani officials gave no immediate comment. Afghan officials say many suicide attackers who strike in Afghanistan are trained in Pakistan, where the Taliban have rear bases and where some its leaders are believed to be based. Islamabad denies allowing the Afghan Taliban to operate bases in its territory and says it will do everything asked to facilitate Afghan attempts to broker a peace deal to end 12 years of war. In recent weeks, Taliban insurgents have accelerated their campaign of suicide attacks and roadside bombs against Afghan officials and Afghan and US-led NATO troops. On Monday, a Taliban suicide attack killed nine people in Kabul including four Nepalese, one Briton and a Romanian. Around 100,000 NATO troops based in Afghanistan are handing over security responsibility to Afghan forces before the international combat mission ends next year.