Afghanistan ? A suicide bomber struck near a police convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing five people and wounding 38 in the latest in a growing wave of Iraq-style attacks.

The attacker, described as a young man wearing a Muslim prayer cap, detonated his explosives as the last in a column of police vehicles passed in front of a bank in Khost, a city near the Pakistani border, officials and witnesses said.

Four civilians and a policeman were killed, according to Gul Mohammadin Mohammadi, the provincial health chief. Nine of the 38 wounded were policemen, he said. Twelve of the injured were in critical condition.

Suicide attacks have become a key weapon for Taliban insurgents who made 2006 the bloodiest year in Afghanistan since U.S. forces drove the hard-line regime from power in late 2001. The tactic has put NATO and U.S. troops on edge, resulting in a string of deadly shootings of civilians.