KABUL, Afghanistan -- A bomb placed under the car seat of a district chief exploded Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, killing him and wounding six other people, officials said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for assassination, the latest targeting senior officials as the militant movement fights to undermine the Western-backed government. The Afghan army has recently carried out several operations against militants in Nangarhar province, where the attack occurred.
The blast killed Noor Agha Kamran, head of the Nazian district, as he was on his way to work in Jalalabad, Nangarhar's deputy governor Mohammad Hanif Gardiwal said.
"A magnetic bomb was placed under the seat of his vehicle. While he was on his way to his office near the university the bomb exploded," Gardiwal said.
The explosion seriously wounded two of Kamran's bodyguards and lightly wounded four other people, provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in an email sent to reporters.
Elsewhere, six Afghan security forces were killed and two wounded while trying to defuse a newly planted roadside bomb on the outskirts of Mihterlam, the capital of Laghman province, said Sarhadi Zawak, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
Those killed included four soldiers and two police officers, Zawak said. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for the explosion.
