KABUL, Afghanistan, September 04, SPA -- A suicide bomber killed two police officers in northern Afghanistan while more than adozen suspected militants died in battles with foreign andAfghan security forces, authorities said Tuesday. The suicide bomber blew himself up Tuesday in Kunduz town,which has largely escaped surging violence by Talibanfighters in the south and the east seeking to overthrow theWestern-supported government in Kabul. Deputy police chief Mohammed Omar Khail said officers hadbeen trailing the vehicle before challenging the driver ashe neared the town's bus station. As they opened the doors,he detonated his explosives, killing two officers andwounding five others, he said. Also Tuesday, suspected Taliban fighters attacked a jointAfghan and U.S.-led coalition patrol in the centralprovince of Ghazni, a coalition statement said. In theclash that ensued, «several» militants were killed, thestatement said. On Monday, another joint patrol came under suspectedTaliban attack in southern Kandahar province, a separatestatement said. At the request of the ground forces,aircraft bombed the Taliban positions, killing «over onedozen» of the fighters, the statement said. More than 4,200 people _ most of them militants _ have been killed so far this year, according to an Associated Press count. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/479902