A blast killed the deputy governor of Ghazni province along with five others in south Afghanistan on Tuesday, police said.

"Mohammad Kazim Allayar, the deputy governor of Ghazni province, was martyred as a blast organized by militants struck his car this morning when he was going to his office," provincial police chief Zarawar Zahid told Xinhua.

Five more persons including two of his family members and three guards were also killed in the blast and 12 others, all civilians, sustained injuries, the police chief said.

He also stressed that it was a suicide attack as the militants planted an explosive device on a motorbike and rammed it into the vehicle of the deputy governor.

Meantime, Zabihullah Mujahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in talks with media via telephone from an undisclosed location claimed the responsibility, saying the deputy governor along with his three bodyguards were killed.

Taliban insurgents who vowed to evict the NATO-led forces from Afghanistan have intensified activities against Afghan and NATO- led forces based in the post-Taliban country.