Suicide bombers
October 31, 2011
In the latest suicide attack in Afghanistan, an attacker detonated a vehicle outside the offices of US-based International Relief and Development (IRD) before two others entered the compound and fired on security forces. Police and government officials have confirmed four people have been killed, including an Afghan policeman, and several others wounded.
The two insurgents were subsequently shot dead in the exchange of fire with Afghan forces, Kandahar police chief Abdul Razzaq said. The UN office buildings have suffered extensive damage following the bombing.
The Taliban has accepted responsibility for the attack, saying that its group members were targeting the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kandahar, the largest city in southern Afghanistan.
Dan McNorton, United Nations spokesman, said that all international employees working for the UNHCR have been accounted for, he said, adding that the UN was trying to make sure that all its employees were safe.
String of deadly attacks
Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban movement, which has been waging a bloody battle for a return to power since it was ousted by the US-led invasion in late 2001 following the September 11 attacks in the US.
The attack comes two days after Taliban militia rammed into a NATO convoy in Kabul, killing 13 troops and civilian employees of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul. Among those killed in the deadliest ground attack against the international coalition in the last ten years of war in Afghanistan, included American, British, Canadian and Afghan citizens.
Senior government officials from Afghanistan will meet with neighboring and Western allies later this week in Istanbul to discuss regional security.
Foreign combat troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, yet there is widespread skepticism over the ability of the Afghan army and police to secure the country, where the number of violent attacks is on the rise.
Agencies: Reuters, AFP, AP (mg)
Editor: Sarah Berning