Suicide bombers targeting law-enforcement authorities killed at least 12 people in two separate incidents in Afghanistan on Saturday, underscoring the precarious security situation in the country as U.S.-led forces prepare to withdraw.
In the northern city of Kunduz, a suicide attacker on a motorbike detonated an explosive vest at around 5:30 p.m. local time near a police checkpoint at one of the city's most heavily trafficked intersections, Afghan officials said. The blast killed 10 policemen, including the provincial counterterrorism chief and the head of the traffic department, said Sarwar Hussaini, a local police spokesman.
Afghan officials said at least 18 people were injured, including five policemen. In a statement, Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior condemned the attack, calling it "cruel and un-Islamic."
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, although the Taliban routinely target Afghan government officials. A Taliban spokesman couldn't be reached for comment.
Security in Kunduz has worsened in recent years amid Taliban infiltration and escalating ethnic tensions. In September, a suicide bomber killed 15 people in a central square following a spate of violence between Pashtun villagers and Tajik militia members.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a suicide bomber killed two people and injured at least five in a busy area of Ghazni, a provincial capital southwest of Kabul. The attacker was riding an explosives-packed bicycle, which blew up around noon in a roundabout in a crowded part of the city, killing a policeman and a civilian, according to Afghan officials.
Afghan Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said that as many as 10 people were injured in the Ghazni blast, including a woman and two children. No one immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.
Ghazni province, which lies on the corridor that connects Kabul to the crucial southern city of Kandahar, is one of the most volatile places in Afghanistan. Insurgents control parts of the province, but anti-Taliban sentiment has surged there. Last year, locals in the district of Andar launched an armed uprising against the Taliban, the first in a series of anti-insurgent revolts.
No members of the U.S.-led military coalition were involved in either of the attacks, said U.S. Air Force Capt. Dan Einert, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
Saturday's bombings in Kunduz and Ghazni come days after insurgents attacked the Afghan capital's traffic department, killing at least three officers after a firefight that lasted several hours. Earlier this month, a Taliban suicide squad assaulted a Kabul headquarters of Afghanistan's domestic intelligence agency, killing at least one.
This spate of attacks is unusual for this time of year, as insurgents normally lie low in winter months. "I think that a lot of the typical fighting patterns are a little bit altered this year," said Erica Gaston, an analyst at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a Washington-based think tank.
The planned withdrawal of international troops by 2014 and coming elections in the country have exacerbated political instability and accompanying violence, Ms. Gaston added.
In a separate incident on Saturday, an armored vehicle of the international forces killed two Afghan civilians in a road accident in northern Balkh province.
"ISAF takes all civilian casualties seriously and, along with Afghan officials, is currently conducting an assessment to determine the facts," the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement on Twitter.
The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan remains high. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, 1,145 civilians were killed in the first six months of 2012. Improvised explosive devices, widely used by the Taliban, account for the largest number of civilian deaths in Afghanistan, the U.N. said.
In the northern city of Kunduz, a suicide attacker on a motorbike detonated an explosive vest at around 5:30 p.m. local time near a police checkpoint at one of the city's most heavily trafficked intersections, Afghan officials said. The blast killed 10 policemen, including the provincial counterterrorism chief and the head of the traffic department, said Sarwar Hussaini, a local police spokesman.
Afghan officials said at least 18 people were injured, including five policemen. In a statement, Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior condemned the attack, calling it "cruel and un-Islamic."
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, although the Taliban routinely target Afghan government officials. A Taliban spokesman couldn't be reached for comment.
Security in Kunduz has worsened in recent years amid Taliban infiltration and escalating ethnic tensions. In September, a suicide bomber killed 15 people in a central square following a spate of violence between Pashtun villagers and Tajik militia members.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a suicide bomber killed two people and injured at least five in a busy area of Ghazni, a provincial capital southwest of Kabul. The attacker was riding an explosives-packed bicycle, which blew up around noon in a roundabout in a crowded part of the city, killing a policeman and a civilian, according to Afghan officials.
Afghan Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said that as many as 10 people were injured in the Ghazni blast, including a woman and two children. No one immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.
Ghazni province, which lies on the corridor that connects Kabul to the crucial southern city of Kandahar, is one of the most volatile places in Afghanistan. Insurgents control parts of the province, but anti-Taliban sentiment has surged there. Last year, locals in the district of Andar launched an armed uprising against the Taliban, the first in a series of anti-insurgent revolts.
No members of the U.S.-led military coalition were involved in either of the attacks, said U.S. Air Force Capt. Dan Einert, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
Saturday's bombings in Kunduz and Ghazni come days after insurgents attacked the Afghan capital's traffic department, killing at least three officers after a firefight that lasted several hours. Earlier this month, a Taliban suicide squad assaulted a Kabul headquarters of Afghanistan's domestic intelligence agency, killing at least one.
This spate of attacks is unusual for this time of year, as insurgents normally lie low in winter months. "I think that a lot of the typical fighting patterns are a little bit altered this year," said Erica Gaston, an analyst at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a Washington-based think tank.
The planned withdrawal of international troops by 2014 and coming elections in the country have exacerbated political instability and accompanying violence, Ms. Gaston added.
In a separate incident on Saturday, an armored vehicle of the international forces killed two Afghan civilians in a road accident in northern Balkh province.
"ISAF takes all civilian casualties seriously and, along with Afghan officials, is currently conducting an assessment to determine the facts," the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement on Twitter.
The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan remains high. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, 1,145 civilians were killed in the first six months of 2012. Improvised explosive devices, widely used by the Taliban, account for the largest number of civilian deaths in Afghanistan, the U.N. said.
Source : Wall Street Journal
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