Bomber attacks Afghan compound

US-led troops have been active along Khost's border with Pakistan

A suicide car bomber has blown himself up outside a government compound in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least nine people and wounding many others.

Two foreign soldiers, stationed at a nearby building used by Nato-led peacekeepers, were also wounded in the attack in the province of Khost.

The bomber seemed to be trying to enter the compound and set off the bomb when police stopped his car, officials said.

Khost, on the border with Pakistan, has seen previous suicide attacks.

The dead included a number of policemen who were on guard outside the gate, Afghan officials said.

Afghan officials have long complained that militants based in the troubled neighbouring Pakistani region of North Waziristan send bombers over the border, correspondents say.