KHOST (AFP) -- A policeman was killed in Afghanistan Monday when he tried to stop a suicide bomber from entering a police station, a provincial official said.

Seven people including another policeman were wounded in the blast in the eastern city of Khost, which also damaged a number of vehicles and the building, Qasem Jan, an aide to the provincial governor, told AFP.

"As our brave policeman grabbed the attacker, the bomber blew himself up. He killed the policeman and himself," Jan said, adding that the attacker had explosives strapped to his body.

Pieces of human flesh, believed to be from the bomber, lay on the ground while the windows of cars and nearby buildings were shattered, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but similar bombings have been blamed on Taleban rebels waging a guerrilla-style insurgency that has included scores of suicide blasts.

There were a record 139 suicide bombings in Afghanistan last year, up from 27 in 2005, according to the U.S. military. They killed around 200 civilians and dozens of Afghan and foreign police and soldiers.

The Taleban, whose ultra-conservative regime was ousted in 2001 by a U.S.-led invasion, have promised a bloody insurgency in 2007. They claim hundreds of their fighters have enlisted to become suicide bombers.