KABUL, April 25: Fresh attacks in Afghanistan killed 19 people, including six soldiers in a roadside bombing, officials said on Wednesday, as the Taliban stepped up its campaign against the government.

The bomb struck an Afghan army vehicle on Wednesday in Paktika, which is on the border with Pakistan, army commander Murad Ali told AFP.

“This is work of the enemies of Afghanistan,” Ali said, using a term that refers to the extremist Taliban who have increased their attacks after a winter lull.

Hours earlier a suicide attacker blew himself up close to the vehicle of a district governor of Paktika as the official was travelling to work.

“Luckily no one was hurt in the suicide attack,” said the interior ministry in a statement.

In neighbouring Ghazni province “terrorists” stormed a road construction company site near the main highway between Kabul and Kandahar on Tuesday, sparking a fierce battle that lasted more than six hours, officials said.

When the fighting in Ghazni was over, three of the company's guards and seven Taliban were dead, said the interior ministry in a statement.

Five militants were arrested, it said.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Yousuf Ahmadi, confirmed the movement was behind the attack near Qarabagh, about 180 kilometres (110 miles) southwest of Kabul, but said only three militants were killed, including a commander.

The attackers got away with vehicles and weapons, Ahmadi said.

In another attack, militants ambushed a police vehicle in the western province of Herat overnight and killed three policemen, provincial criminal investigation director Ali Khan told AFP.