Two US citizens were among seven people killed in a suicide bomb attack on the office of a US-owned security company in southern Afghanistan this morning.
A local police chief told reporters that 'the bomber was questioned by a security guard as to where he was going, in front of the office, and he blew himself up among company employees'.
Taliban-linked militants claimed responsibility for the blast outside the office of the US Protection and Investigations (USPI) in Kandahar city.
The police chief said the employees had gathered for a regular morning briefing outside their office, which is opposite a base of Afghanistan's NATO security force.
Two of the victims were Americans working for the company. Five Afghans were also killed.
The company provides guards to protect foreign companies working on construction and infrastructure projects.
This year, Afghanistan has plunged into the bloodiest period of violence since US-led troops overthrew the Taliban's radical Islamic government in 2001.
It was the third suicide bomb attack in the city this week.
