Kabul - A suicide bomber in police uniform blew himself up inside police headquarters in northern Afghanistan, killing one US soldier and wounding seven other people including police officers, police said Monday.

"One American soldier was killed and two others were wounded in the blast this morning," Jaweed Basharat, spokesman for provincial police chief told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

He said four Afghan police officers and one child were also wounded in the Monday's blast.

The bomber, who was in police uniform, tried to enter the police chief's office in Puli Khumri, the capital of northern Baghlan province, and detonated himself when he was stopped by the guards.

Provincial governor Abdul Jabar Haqbeen confirmed the attack, saying the bomber planned to target the police chief and his US advisors.

But he claimed that the police chief and the US military officials were unhurt.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mkjahid took responsibility for the attack and said that one of their fighters, named Abdul Ahad, who was in police uniform carried out the attack.

"Seven foreign soldiers and 12 Afghan soldiers were killed and several others were wounded," Mujahid told dpa by phone from an undisclosed location.

Taliban often exaggerate the number of Afghan and international soldiers killed in their operations.

A US military spokesman declined to comment on the incident.

The attack was rare in the relatively peaceful northern region. Taliban are mostly active in the southern and eastern regions, along the border with Pakistan.

The attack came a week after a suicide bomber on bicycle in the neighbouring province of Kunduz killed two German soldiers and five children. Two other German soldiers and two Afghan children were wounded in the attack.

Afghan government officials warned that the rebels have penetrated the region and gained support among the Pashtun ethnic groups in the region.

Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group of Afghanistan, and most of the Taliban fighters are Pashtun as well

More than 4,000 people - mostly insurgents, but including hundreds of Afghan and international forces - have been killed in Afghanistan conflict so far this year. (dpa)