KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) – An attacker blew himself up in a failed assault on coalition forces Sunday in volatile southern Afghanistan, while two U.S. helicopters made emergency landings during combat operations, officials said.

The attempted attack against the coalition forces occurred after their convoy passed through the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanekzai said the explosives detonated when the attacker was hit by a motorcycle. The blast killed the attacker and motorcycle driver and wounded two other people, U.S. military and Afghan police officials said.

One of the wounded was a coalition soldier, who was treated for minor injuries and returned to duty, said Lt. Mike Cody, a coalition spokesman. Afghan state television reported that the convoy was Canadian.

U.S. and Afghan officials called the attacker a suicide bomber, but a police officer at the scene said the man was apparently trying to throw a grenade.

Hours earlier, the U.S. military said five American troops and an Afghan soldier suffered relatively minor injuries when two helicopters made emergency landings during combat operations. All the injured were in stable condition, the military said.

The five U.S. soldiers were hurt when a CH-47 Chinook landed north of Kandahar, suffering serious damage, the military said. The other helicopter made an emergency landing at a forward operating base in neighboring Uruzgan province, injuring the Afghan soldier, the military said.

A self-described Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammed Yousaf, claimed the group had shot down one of the helicopters north of Kandahar with a rocket, but he also said that all aboard were killed. Yousaf often calls media outlets to claim responsibility for attacks with information that proves exaggerated or untrue. His ties to the Taliban leadership are unclear.

The U.S. military said it was investigating the causes of the incidents.

Also Sunday, Esmatullah Muhabat, a former militia leader elected to parliament in September, was shot dead in a gunfight that apparently erupted during a dispute over firewood. Stanekzai said three of Muhabat’s followers were also killed in the clash.

Some 20,000 coalition troops are fighting Taliban and al-Qaida-linked insurgents in southern and eastern Afghanistan. Increased violence has left nearly 1,500 people dead this year – the bloodiest since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban from power in 2001.

In addition to rocket attacks, roadside bombings and ambushes in the rugged south and east that often target coalition and Afghan forces, rebels have turned to suicide bombings and other attacks in cities including the capital, Kabul.

The violence has cast a shadow over efforts to sow stability and democracy in a country wracked by war and chaos.

September’s parliamentary elections marked the final step on an internationally backed path to democracy. But the election of former warlords and others involved in past violence has raised concern that internal tensions may continue to hobble the country.

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