A premature suicide bombing killed the bomber and five other insurgents accompanying him in the eastern Paktika province, an official told Xinhua Tuesday.
The five insurgents were escorting the attacker, who was strapped with explosives, when the explosives blasted earlier than scheduled in Yusufkhil district on Monday, said Dad Mohammad Rasa, an official at the office of Interior Ministry spokesman.
The bomber apparently had planned to target foreign and Afghan troops in the region, he added.
Paktika, a mountainous region, has been a hotbed of Taliban, al- Qaeda and other anti-government insurgents.
Militants killed Adam Khan, chief of Shiekh Aba district in the province, at his home on Sunday night.
In the past nine months, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of violence since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001.
Over 2,400 persons, mostly Taliban rebels, have been killed in the country this year.
Source: Xinhua