A government employee was killed and two others were injured Saturday morning in a bomb explosion close to the Governor House in eastern Laghman province of Afghanistan, an official at Interior Ministry said.

"A remote-controlled bomb went off at around 07:55 a.m. when some government employees were gathering at the gate of the Governor House in Mehtarlam, the provincial capital," Dad Mohammad Rasa told Xinhua.

However, he declined to say whether the governor was the target, only saying the victims were not high officials.

Due to rising Taliban-linked violence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of bloodshed since the Taliban regime was toppled nearly five years ago.

A suicide car bombing killed one NATO soldier and eight civilians on Friday in the southern Kandahar province.

Over 2,400 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed in this volatile country this year.

Source: Xinhua