Sadly, he took a few civilians with him.

(AFP) — A suicide bomber on a bicycle struck Mazar-i-Sharif on Wednesday, killing four Afghans in one of the country’s safest cities poised to transition from NATO to local control.

The attack will likely fuel fears that putting Afghan security forces in control of seven different areas this week is happening too quickly, with violence at a record high in the decade long Taliban insurgency.

Police and ministry officials said the attack in the centre of the northern city, close to its famous Blue Mosque, also injured 11 people and shattered shop windows.

He also played down Wednesday’s attack as an “accident”, saying the explosives had detonated prematurely when the bicycle collided with a car.

“There were no Afghan or foreign troops present at the time, so we believe the explosion was accidental, the attacker had probably planned to carry out the attack somewhere else,” he said.