A suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside a police training center in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 19 officers and wounding at least 20, a police chief said. The bomber entered the training facility in Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province, as the police reservists were exercising, said Juma Gul Himat, Uruzgan's provincial police chief. The blast, which also damaged the compound, killed 18 policemen and wounded at least 20, Himat said. Eight of the wounded were in critical condition. Southern Afghanistan is the center of their fight against the government and international military forces, and militants control wide swaths of territory. In 2008, some 868 policemen were killed in insurgent attacks, according to a tally of figures collected by The Associated Press. More than 900 police were killed in 2007.
