KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghan officials say a suicide bomber has struck outside a provincial council building in the country's north. A lawmaker says the council chief and at least seven others were killed.

Police spokesman in Baghlan province Jawed Bashrat says the bomber was on foot and targeted the leader of the provincial council, Mohammad Rasoul Mohseni, as he was walking into the building on Monday morning.

Mohseni is among at least eight people killed in the blast, according to Mohammad Zahier Ghanizad, a member of parliament from Baghlan.

Bashrat says civilians and provincial council members are among the casualties.

Insurgents seeking to weaken the Afghan government have been carrying out attacks and assassinations intended to intimidate both officials and civilians ahead of next year's withdrawal of most international troops.