Afghanistan ? Two coordinated bomb blasts killed seven people Thursday in southern Afghanistan, including three police responding to the first explosion – an Iraq-style attack rarely seen here.

Hours later, a suicide car bomber rammed into a convoy that usually carries Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid. The governor was not in the convoy, but the apparent assassination attempt killed three civilians on the street and wounded four government employees, including the information and culture minister and one of Khalid’s body guards.

The blasts in Kandahar came less than a week after Taliban field commander Mullah Dadullah was killed during a U.S.-led operation in neighboring Helmand province.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the first two attacks in their former stronghold, saying that the second blast was timed to hit as more police arrived on the scene.

The first blast – a remote-controlled bomb targeting a pickup truck – killed four private security guards, said Esmatullah Alizai, Kandahar province’s police chief.

About 15 minutes later, a second roadside remote control bomb exploded, killing three policemen and wounding four, Alizai said.