Officials say Helmand's deputy governor, Pir Mohammad, was among the dead. The attack occurred in the town of Lashkar Gah.

Earlier, at least one person was killed and four others wounded in a suspected suicide car bomb attack in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul.

Officials say the blast in Kabul's Taimani area appears to have targeted a bus belonging to the Afghan National Army.

The Taliban has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

Also today, authorities in eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan Province said they had found the decapitated bodies of four road construction workers.