KABUL: Officials said a suicide bomber killed four police officers and wounded at least six others guarding a remembrance ceremony for a top Afghan police commander.

Authorities said guards stopped the bomber from entering a Kunduz City mosque in the northern province of Kunduz where many gathered Friday to remember slain Gen. Daud Daud, a well known regional police commander in northern Afghanistan.

Provincial police chief Samiullah Qatra said the bomber then detonated his explosives outside the mosque after being confronted by the guards. The blast blew out windows of the mosque.

The bombing comes as the Taliban begin their spring offensive, with stepped up roadside bombings and suicide attacks, as well as insurgent assaults on mountain or rural outposts.