A suicide bomber killed Pir Mohammed, the deputy governor of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, and five others this morning amid warnings that the country could soon revert to a “failed state” and terrorist haven.

The bomber also injured at least 11 people when he blew himself up inside a mosque in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand and centre of reconstruction efforts since British troops deployed there in 2006.

The target appeared to be Mr Mohammed, a tribal leader who became deputy governor in December 2006 despite being widely rumoured to have links to the drugs trade in Helmand, Afghanistan’s main poppy producer.

His assassination is yet another blow to British efforts to stabilise the province as the Ministry of Defence prepares to announce later today the latest troop rotation to the country and The Times revealed that some UK troops could be sent into action without full combat training.

Earlier today, another suicide bomber attacked an Afghan army bus in Kabul, the capital, killing at least one civilian and injuring four others in the latest in a series of attacks on the army and police over the last year.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a purported Taleban spokesman, said one of the militant group's suicide bombers was responsible for that blast.

Buses carrying army and police have become a favourite target for the Taleban, which has killed at least 65 people in similar attacks since June last year.

The Taleban carried out more than 140 suicide bomb attacks in Afghanistan last year, the most since US-led forces toppled the Islamist movement’s government in late 2001.

Today’s attacks came the day after two separate studies warned that without greater international military and economic aid, Afghanistan risked reverting into a failed state and terrorist santuary.

“Urgent changes are required now to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a failing or failed state,” said a report by the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank.

“If Afghanistan fails, the possible strategic consequences will worsen regional instability, do great harm to the fight against Jihadist and religious extremism, and put in grave jeopardy NATO’s future as a credible, cohesive and relevant military alliance,” it said.

Another US expert panel, the Afghanistan Study Group, asked the United States and NATO allies to replace the “light footprint” in Afghanistan with the “right footprint".

The group urged the US Administration and Congress to “decouple” Iraq and Afghanistan in the legislative process and in the management of these conflicts.

“The prospect of again losing significant parts of Afghanistan to the forces of Islamic extremists has moved from the improbable to the possible,” the group said.

The US State Department responded by saying there had been “real progress” since the Taleban’s defeat.

“We know what a failed state in Afghanistan looks like. That was Afghanistan under the Taleban prior to 2001. Afghanistan today does not look like that,” said Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman.

“There has been real progress where Afghanistan was six years ago. Is there a long way to go? Absolutely.”

Times Recommends

• Would you live on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall?
• Wish you were here, says Iraq tourist board
• Russian policeman’s corruption plea to Putin