An unidentified bomber has killed at least seven people and hurt 20 others in an attack on a restaurant in south-eastern Afghanistan, a local official has said.

The attack took place in the Urgun district in Paktika province, on the border with Pakistan.

Most of those killed in the blast were civilians, governor Mohammed Akram Akhpelwak told the Reuters news agency.

Armed men linked to the ousted Taleban administration have carried out a wave of attacks in Afghanistan recently.

Mr Akhpelwak told the Associated Press news agency several provincial officials were hurt in the attack.

The attack's intended targets may have been a senior provincial official and an Afghan special forces commander, he said.

Separately, Nato forces say they have killed at least 55 Taleban fighters in two separate battles in the southern province of Oruzgan.

One Nato soldier was also killed, a spokesman for the alliance said.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Afghan police officer stands next to a damaged Afghan army vehicle after a bomb blast in Kabul November 25, 2006. (Reuters)

BBC