20 Killed in a Suidice attack in Afghanistan

A suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up next to a police patrol in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 20 people, while a two-day battle sparked by an insurgent attack killed at least 40 militants, officials said.

The bombing attack in the southern province of Uruzgan also killed five police officers and wounded more than 30 others, said Juma Gul Himat, the province's police chief.

The bomber struck the police patrol at a busy intersection of Deh Rawood district, Himat said. The bombing also damaged or destroyed about nine shops in the area, he said.

Most of those killed and wounded were shopkeepers and young boys selling cigarettes and other goods in the street, Himat said.

Afghan civilians have suffered from a rash of bombings this month. About 55 civilians were killed in a massive bomb attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul on Monday, while a government commission said this week U.S. air strikes killed 47 civilians in eastern Nangarhar province on July 6.

In Helmand province, a militant attack on Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces sparked a battle that killed at least 40 militants, the coalition said in a statement.

The militants attacked the combined forces near Sangin on Saturday from ``multiple concealed and fortified positions,'' the coalition said.