Dozens Killed in Afghanistan Suicide Bombing

The bomber targeted a truck packed with police officers who were in the main village square at early evening.

About half of those killed in the attack were police officers, Khan said. Roughly 60 others were wounded.

Gereshk is in the heart of a Taliban stronghold, although the militant group did not immediately claim responsibility for the blast.

The suicide bombing comes on the heels of a U.N. report that says militant suicide attacks in Afghanistan are up 69 percent over last year. The number of suicide attacks here is second only to Iraq.

Few of the Taliban's bombing attacks – which tend to target international and Afghan military and police forces — have been as deadly as the one in Helmand.

From NPR reports and The Associated Press