Blast Hits Troubled Afghan Khost Province

A blast has been reported near the governor's compound in Afghanistan's troubled eastern Khost province, officials say. The governor and other local officials were slightly injured by flying glass from the explosion, which apparently came from a rubbish container outside.An investigation is under way into the cause of the blast. Khost, on the Pakistan border, was the scene of a suicide attack last week which left seven CIA personnel dead. On Wednesday a regional al-Qaeda leader claimed responsibility for the 30 December attack. Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said it was in revenge for the deaths of several Islamists, including Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsoud, IntelCenter reported. He said the bomber "detonated his explosive belt, concealed from the eyes of those who do not believe in the hereafter, in a gathering of American and Jordanian intelligence men". The Taliban had earlier said they had carried out the attack, and the bomber had been a Jordanian double agent who had misled intelligence services for a year.