KABUL, Sept. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Afghan Vice President Namatullah Shahrani was unharmed when a bomb went off on his way to a road project in northeastern part of the country, local officials said Monday.

    Sayed 'Engineer' Omar, governor of Kunduz province, told Xinhuain an exclusive interview that the incident took place at 1 p.m. local time when Shahrani, who was escorted by ranking officials from Afghan transitional government as well as local authorities, was traveling in Khanadad District between Kunduz and neighboring Takhar provinces. A bomb planted by the roadside suddenly exploded by remote control device.

    Fortunately, the Vice President was not hurt, while the car his bodyguards were traveling in received the impact, and the driver was injured, he said.

    Shahrani continued the journey to take part in an inauguration ceremony of a road reconstruction project in Badakhshan province, while other officials returned back from the visit, Omar said.

    The province is situated several hundred km northeast of the capital of Kabul.

    Up till now 15 suspects have been arrested for investigation, he added.

    Sources from Afghan Interior Ministry confirmed the attack, but said it cannot blame anyone at this time, as the investigation is still going on.

    Afghan President Hamid Karzai escaped from an assassination effort four days ago as the helicopter he was traveling on was almost hit by a rocket fired by Taliban remnants near Gardez, capital of Paktia province to the southeast of Kabul.

    The Taliban and it al-Qaeda ally have vowed to disrupt the first president balloting rescheduled for Oct. 9 with all possible means. Enditem