(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />A suicide bomber killed at least nine people on Tuesday (April 10) in Afghanistan's relatively peaceful western Herat province near the border with Iran, officials said.<br/> <br />The bomber blew up a car laden with explosives just outside a city in the province, killing six civilians and three policemen, a provincial governor spokesman said.<br/> <br />Afghans and foreign governments alike were taken by surprise when residents in relatively quiet Herat took to the streets in February to protest against the accidental burning of Korans at a NATO air base that month.<br/> <br />U.S. reports last week said American officials believed Iranian agents had been active in trying to instigate the violence, which gripped the country for weeks.<br/> <br />As foreign combat troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2014, attention is turning towards Afghanistan's neighbouring nations, and what role they could play in the country's future.
