Seven dead in attack on Afghan police building: Official

Three policemen and four civilians died in the blast in the car park, the ministry said in a statement.


Afp February 05, 2012

KANDAHAR: Seven people were killed Sunday in a suicide car bomb attack on police headquarters in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, a bastion of Taliban militancy, the interior ministry said.

Three policemen and four civilians died in the blast in the car park, the ministry said in a statement, while nine other people were injured.

Kandahar is the largest city in southern Afghanistan and the birthplace of the Taliban, who have been waging a bloody insurgency since being ousted from power by the US-led invasion in late 2001 that followed the 9/11 attacks.

"At around noon today (0730 GMT), a suicide car bomber detonated his explosive-packed car in district one of Kandahar that killed seven, including three police and four civilians and wounded nine others", the ministry statement said.

Kandahar governor Tooryalai Weesa also said there were seven deaths, but said five of those were police and gave a wounded toll of 19, including 13 women and children.

Blood-splattered items from nearby market stalls lay scattered on the ground after the attack, which destroyed four police cars and damaged nearby buildings, according to an AFP correspondent.

Militants frequently target Afghan police and military, who are due to assume responsibility for the country's security from NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops by the end of 2014.

NATO defence ministers on Thursday voiced hope that Afghan forces would take the lead by the end of next year, with foreign troops moving to a backup role until their combat mission ends.

Seven Afghan civilians were killed on January 19 when a suicide attacker targeting ISAF vehicles blew up his car at Kandahar airport -- an attack claimed by the Taliban.

A UN report on Saturday said civilian deaths in Afghanistan reached a record high in 2011 -- the fifth straight year the death toll has gone up.

A total of 3,021 civilians died -- mostly at the hands of insurgents -- up eight percent from 2,790 in 2010, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said.

The record loss of life was blamed mainly on changes in the insurgents' tactics, which saw an increased use of homemade bombs and deadlier suicide attacks.

Taliban negotiators have begun holding preliminary talks with US officials in Qatar on plans for peace negotiations aimed at ending the decade-long Afghan war.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is to discuss Afghan peace efforts with the Qatari leadership when he travels to the Gulf state for a visit on Monday.

COMMENTS (6)

pakistani baloch | 12 years ago | Reply

@Dr Jamil Chaudri: you are right .....

Dr Jamil Chaudri | 12 years ago | Reply Paki-Hindu brother, Salutations. . Madrassa simply means School. Thus, we should not ask for schools to be closed, for that will cause more illiteracy and extremism. What is needed is change of SYLLABUS. The syllabus should include: respect for the State Law, Respect for all Human Beings, especially Minorities (Christian, Hindu, Sikhism, Zorostrianism, Ahmadiyya, etc.) . Conspiracy theories emerge on account of matters being OPAQUE, people seeing something and not knowing the truth about why and how something happened. It is scientific method to try and build a theory to explain the phenomenon before you. When political matters are settled secretly (, people not know what the deal was, who were the parties to the deal, what alternatives were available, and why a particular option was chosen, etc.) that leads to competing conjectures or (conspiracy) theories. . What we should wish for is OPEN or TRANSPARENT Government. And that should apply to matters within the state and dealings of the state with outside entities. All dealings with outside actors should be done through the approval of the Legislative.
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