Kabul  - An Afghan provincial mayor was killed in a roadside bomb blast in eastern Afghanistan, while 34 suspected Taliban militants were killed in separate clashes and blasts elsewhere in the country, officials said Tuesday.

A remote-controlled roadside bomb was detonated in the outskirts of Khost city, the capital for the province of the same name, on Tuesday afternoon when the provincial mayor was on his way home, Hamidullah Qalandarzai, the provincial governor said.

Kabul, Mar. 31 : Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has signed a law which "legalises" rape, women''s groups and the United Nations warn.

Critics claim that Karzai helped rush the bill through parliament in a bid to appease Islamic fundamentalists ahead of elections in August.

Kabul - The main opposition party in Afghanistan warned Monday that the decision by the Supreme Court to extend President Hamid Karzai's term until an election in August would lead the war-torn country to "political crisis and instability."

The country's high court ruled Sunday that Karzai should stay in power after his term ends May 22 until the elections are held August 20.

Kabul - A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-filled vest inside a district headquarter in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing eight people including police and civilians and wounded six others, a government spokesman said.

The bomber carried out the attack inside the Dand district in southern Kandahar province on Monday morning, killing three policemen and five civilians, provincial spokesman Zelmai Ayoubi said.

He said six others were wounded in the attack that he held the Taliban-led insurgents responsible for.

Kabul - About midnight on a calm spring night, Toor Jan awoke to a sudden jolt and a loud, deafening blast. He stumbled out of his bed and rushed outside to find out what happened, but his eyes saw only flames and thick dust.

It did not take him long to realize that the catastrophe was not caused by thunder or an earthquake, but by a bomb dropped from a NATO military airplane.

Jan's brother, his mother, his young daughter and his three nephews were killed in a NATO airstrike that hit their home in Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province in the late spring of 2008.

Kabul  - Eight members of the Afghan security forces and 15 Taliban militants including two rebel commanders were killed in separate clashes and a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan, officials said Sunday.

Taliban militants ambushed a police vehicle in Pashtun Zarghoon district of western Herat province on Sunday morning, killing four policemen, Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, spokesman for police forces in the western region said.