Suicide blast kills 4, wounds 8 in S. Afghanistan

Helmand provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal says the target of Sunday's attack was a district police chief in the town of Musa Qala.

Andiwal said five policemen and three other civilians were wounded in the blast.

The bomber also died. The district police chief was not harmed.

U.S., British and Afghan troops pushed Taliban fighters out of Musa Qala late last year after the militants overran the area in early 2007 and held it for 10 months.

More than 1,200 people -mostly militants -have died in insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan this year, according to a tally compiled by The Associated Press.