In brief: Police chief killed in suicide attack

Kabul, Afghanistan – A suicide bomber killed the provincial police chief of Kandahar and two other police officers Friday, stunning Afghanistan’s second-largest city, whose security has been a top priority for NATO forces.

About 2 p.m. local time, the bomber made his way inside Kandahar police headquarters to attack Police Chief Khan Mohammad Mujahid, according to Zamarai Bashari, an Interior Ministry spokesman. Three officers were wounded in the attack.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the “martyrdom attack” on Mujahid and said it also killed a dozen police officers.

Bahrain relents, OKs opposition

Washington – Bahrain backed down Friday from its threat to disband the country’s main opposition party, following unusually strong criticism from the United States.

One day after the Bahraini justice ministry said it would close the moderate Muslim Shiite party, Al Wefaq, and a smaller Shiite party, the state-run news agency said the government would not act until it had concluded investigations of the two groups.

The Obama administration, a strong ally of the ruling regime in Bahrain, had defended the parties as “legitimate political societies” and had urged reversal of the decision.