33 killed in Afghan suicide bombing
Source: Agencies |
March 15, 2011, Tuesday
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A SUICIDE bomber posing as an army volunteer struck an Afghan army recruitment center in the northern province of Kunduz yesterday, killing at least 33 people, Afghan officials said.
Militants appear to be waging an intense campaign to frighten people from working with security forces and the Afghan government in Kunduz, the target of escalating suicide bombings over the past two years. Violence has increased in the north as international forces have flooded into Taliban strongholds in the south.
Yesterday's attack was the second suicide bombing in five days in Kunduz, where al-Qaida, the Taliban and numerous other militant groups, including one from neighboring Uzbekistan, have all increased their presence.
The attacker approached on foot and detonated his explosives vest among a group of army volunteers lined up outside the recruitment center, Kunduz Deputy Governor Hamdullah Danishi said.
Ambulances and private cars brought at least 42 wounded to the Kunduz hospital, said provincial government spokesman Muhbobullah Sayedi.
"We have 33 bodies, including soldiers and civilians," said Humayun Khamush, a doctor at the hospital. Four children were also killed.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the bombing and vowed retribution against those responsible.
The same recruitment center was targeted in a mid-December attack that killed eight soldiers and policemen. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
Kunduz and surrounding provinces are known hide-outs for the Taliban, al-Qaida and fighters from militant factions that include the Haqqani network, Hizb-i-Islami and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The province is also a major agricultural and transit center along a main highway into Tajikistan.
The Taliban also claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing last Thursday that killed Kunduz police chief Abdul Rahman Sayedkhili and two of his bodyguards as they walked through the city.
To the east, a bomb blast yesterday morning killed three Afghan civilians in Nangarhar province's Sorkh Rod district, the Interior Ministry said. The ministry did not provide -further details.
However, there have been some hopeful signs. In Kandahar province - a Taliban stronghold where NATO forces have been trying to regain control - a well-known insurgent agreed to join with the government yesterday.
Azizullah Agha told reporters he was laying down his weapons along with 20 other insurgent fighters because too many foreigners had joined the insurgency and because he did not like that they were burning down schools.
Militants appear to be waging an intense campaign to frighten people from working with security forces and the Afghan government in Kunduz, the target of escalating suicide bombings over the past two years. Violence has increased in the north as international forces have flooded into Taliban strongholds in the south.
Yesterday's attack was the second suicide bombing in five days in Kunduz, where al-Qaida, the Taliban and numerous other militant groups, including one from neighboring Uzbekistan, have all increased their presence.
The attacker approached on foot and detonated his explosives vest among a group of army volunteers lined up outside the recruitment center, Kunduz Deputy Governor Hamdullah Danishi said.
Ambulances and private cars brought at least 42 wounded to the Kunduz hospital, said provincial government spokesman Muhbobullah Sayedi.
"We have 33 bodies, including soldiers and civilians," said Humayun Khamush, a doctor at the hospital. Four children were also killed.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the bombing and vowed retribution against those responsible.
The same recruitment center was targeted in a mid-December attack that killed eight soldiers and policemen. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
Kunduz and surrounding provinces are known hide-outs for the Taliban, al-Qaida and fighters from militant factions that include the Haqqani network, Hizb-i-Islami and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The province is also a major agricultural and transit center along a main highway into Tajikistan.
The Taliban also claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing last Thursday that killed Kunduz police chief Abdul Rahman Sayedkhili and two of his bodyguards as they walked through the city.
To the east, a bomb blast yesterday morning killed three Afghan civilians in Nangarhar province's Sorkh Rod district, the Interior Ministry said. The ministry did not provide -further details.
However, there have been some hopeful signs. In Kandahar province - a Taliban stronghold where NATO forces have been trying to regain control - a well-known insurgent agreed to join with the government yesterday.
Azizullah Agha told reporters he was laying down his weapons along with 20 other insurgent fighters because too many foreigners had joined the insurgency and because he did not like that they were burning down schools.
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