KABUL - Officials in southern Afghanistan say a bomb explosion Saturday killed a senior military commander and wounded at least three other people, including a local journalist. A high-ranking Taliban official has also been killed in clashes with security forces in Jowzjan province in Afghanistan’s north. Separately, an apparent drone attack in the southeast part of the country is said to have killed at least six civilians, including a newborn baby. The Taliban took responsibility for the roadside bombing in Helmand province, where most of the districts are either controlled or influenced by the insurgent group. The provincial police spokesman told VOA that Gen Zahir Gul Muqbil, the commander of an army border unit, was heading to the volatile Marjah district along with a group of journalists to visit an ongoing counterinsurgency operation when the convoy struck a roadside bomb. A high-ranking Taliban official has been killed in clashes with security forces in Jowzjan province, a local official said. Qari Nuriddin and his four bodyguards were killed in the district of Mengajik, where the militant group has a strong presence, provincial government spokesman Abdul Maaruf Azar said. There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.