KABUL: An Afghan official says a suicide car bombing in the country's east has wounded nine people, including six policemen.

The provincial governor's spokesman, Attaullah Khugyani, says the bomber targeted a police compound early on Monday morning in the Surkh Rud district in Nangarhar province.

He says three civilians were among the wounded and that the blast damaged both the compound and two dozen shops nearby.

Police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal says the bomber tried to get into the compound but blew the car up prematurely outside the facility.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Taliban are active in eastern Afghanistan. Insurgent attacks against both Afghan troops and civilians have escalated across the country since the withdrawal of all foreign combat forces by the end of last year.