(MAZAR I SHARIF) - A suicide bomber exploded a car bomb near a EU police training mission jeep in northern Afghanistan Sunday, injuring seven people including three Germans, officials said.

The attack was outside the town of Kunduz in the north of the country, an area which has seen an increase in militant strikes but far less of the insurgency-linked violence in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

Four people inside the vehicle were lightly wounded, European Union Police Mission (EUPOL) spokesman Andrea Angeli told AFP, describing them as three German police officers and their Afghan interpreter.

Provincial governor Mohammad Omar said three children were also hurt.

"Today there was a suicide bombing ... Three school children were injured," he told AFP, blaming the attack on the Taliban militant group.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Taliban were in government between 1996 and 2001 when they were removed in a US-led invasion.

They are today waging an insurgency that makes heavy use of suicide bombings targeted mostly at Afghan and international security forces.

The EUPOL mission's aim is to help build the Afghan police force and mentor interior ministry officials as part of international efforts to build the Afghan forces so they can bring security to the fractured country.

It consists of about 230 personnel mainly police, law enforcement and justice experts deployed in Kabul and some provinces.

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