A bombing Monday killed three bodyguards of a district chief, including his son, in an area of Afghanistan at the center of claims that US air strikes killed dozens of civilians last month, the official said. Lal Mohammad Omarzai told AFP the bomb was apparently hidden in a three-wheel motorcycle near the Shindand district center and remotely detonated as his two-vehicle convoy passed. "Three of my bodyguards, one of them my son, were martyred and five others were wounded," said Omarzai, who was not hurt in the attack.Shindand is the focus of one of the biggest claims of civilian casualties in air strikes since international troops arrived in Afghanistan to remove the extremist Taliban in late 2001. An Afghan investigation and a UN rights team have said more than 90 civilians, many of them women and children, were killed in August 22 strikes called in after international and Afghan troops came under attack. The US military says only five to seven civilians were killed along with 30-35 militants. It has, however, agreed to review its investigation.
Shindand is home to armed rebels, including Taliban, who regularly carry out attacks on officials as part of their campaign against their Western-backed government. Other groups are also involved.