A Muslim cleric close to U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai was killed in southern Afghanistan, officials said Saturday. Habibullah, who used one name, was killed Wednesday outside a mosque in the village of Kalacha in Deh Rawood district, 90 miles north of Kandahar, said Aminullah Khalqi, the head of the district administration. He said six people had been detained. Karzai issued a statement Saturday condemning Habibullah's murder and pledging that authorities would do all they could to track down his killers. Karzai and Khalqi blamed Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime and allies in Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. Taliban and al-Qaida in the recent months have stepped up attacks on foreign troops, government officials and those supporting the policies of Karzai's fledging government. The district of Deh Rawood is the hometown of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the fugitive Taliban leader wanted by the United States. The attack on Habibullah followed the April 4 killing of another Karzai ally the same area. Haji Gilani and his nephew were gunned down outside their home in Deh Rawood by six gunmen. While officials have identified one of them as the brother of a former Taliban commander, it remains unclear whether the killing had a political motive. Gilani was the first man to give Karzai shelter when he launched his anti-Taliban revolt weeks before Taliban government collapsed in late 2001. Also Saturday, two Afghan soldiers were wounded when a bomb exploded at the residence of the governor of the southern province of Helmand. The bomb was planted under a tree at the residence of Haji Sher Mohammed, the governor of Helmand province, in Lashkargah, 90 miles northwest of Kandahar. It exploded about 10 minutes after Mohammed had walked past the spot to get into a car, his spokesman Haji Mohammed Wali told The Associated Press. Wali blamed militants loyal to the Taliban and to renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar for the attack, but provided no details. **PHOTO CAPTION*** US Army soldiers inspecting a cache of weapons and ammunition recovered during "Operation Valiant Strike" in Sami Ghar Mountain Range, southeast of Kandahar, Afghanistan (AFP/US ARMY/File)