Afghan clash: 3 killed

KANDAHAR: Foreign troops killed a former provincial police chief in southern Afghanistan during an overnight clash that also left two of his bodyguards dead, police said on Thursday. Troops clashed with Ruzi Khan Barakzai, the former police chief of Uruzgan province, at his friend’s house near the provincial capital of Tirin Kot, killing Barakzai and his bodyguards. — AP

Bombers blown up

PESHAWAR: Two suspected suicide bombers blew themselves up in a northwestern Pakistani town Thursday after residents prevented their entry into the area, police said. The militants from Swat valley, a hotbed of Islamic extremists, entered into the nearby town of Upper Dir but people from the area chased them away, local police officer Johar Ali said. “The militants entered into a school building but failed to get shelter,” he said. No children were injured in the incursion. — AFP