Afghan Taliban kills 44 in attempt to free militants
Source: AFP |
April 4, 2013, Thursday
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TALIBAN militants stormed an Afghan court yesterday, killing at least 44 people in a bid to free insurgents standing trial, officials said, in the deadliest attack for more than a year.
It was not immediately clear whether the accused men had escaped the court complex in the western town of Farah, although a hospital doctor said one prisoner was among those being treated for injuries.
All nine attackers were killed in the assault, which started with a huge car bomb at the entrance to the court and continued for at least seven hours as security forces hunted down one final surviving assailant.
The brazen and sophisticated attack will raise further questions about the Afghans' ability to secure the country as NATO winds down its combat mission in the war-torn country by the end of next year.
"I can confirm 34 civilians, six army and four policemen have been killed and 91 people, the majority of them civilians, have been injured," Najib Danish, interior ministry deputy spokesman, said. "Nine attackers have also been killed."
The death toll was the highest in Afghanistan from a single attack since a Shiite Muslim shrine was bombed in Kabul in December 2011, killing 80 people.
"The attack is over, but the casualties have unfortunately risen," Farah provincial governor Mohammad Akram Khpalwak said, putting the final death toll as high as 46.
Two women were among the dead, he said.
The governor confirmed that a group of Taliban had been brought for trial at the court in Fatah yesterday morning, but gave no further details.
Taliban militants fighting the US-backed central government claimed responsibility for the attack, describing it as a carefully-planned operation that used a vehicle belonging to the Afghan security forces.
"The attack started when it was known through intelligence that the puppet provincial officials were bringing some prisoners including some Taliban for an unjust trial," spokesman Yusuf Ahmadi said in a statement on their website.
It was not immediately clear whether the accused men had escaped the court complex in the western town of Farah, although a hospital doctor said one prisoner was among those being treated for injuries.
All nine attackers were killed in the assault, which started with a huge car bomb at the entrance to the court and continued for at least seven hours as security forces hunted down one final surviving assailant.
The brazen and sophisticated attack will raise further questions about the Afghans' ability to secure the country as NATO winds down its combat mission in the war-torn country by the end of next year.
"I can confirm 34 civilians, six army and four policemen have been killed and 91 people, the majority of them civilians, have been injured," Najib Danish, interior ministry deputy spokesman, said. "Nine attackers have also been killed."
The death toll was the highest in Afghanistan from a single attack since a Shiite Muslim shrine was bombed in Kabul in December 2011, killing 80 people.
"The attack is over, but the casualties have unfortunately risen," Farah provincial governor Mohammad Akram Khpalwak said, putting the final death toll as high as 46.
Two women were among the dead, he said.
The governor confirmed that a group of Taliban had been brought for trial at the court in Fatah yesterday morning, but gave no further details.
Taliban militants fighting the US-backed central government claimed responsibility for the attack, describing it as a carefully-planned operation that used a vehicle belonging to the Afghan security forces.
"The attack started when it was known through intelligence that the puppet provincial officials were bringing some prisoners including some Taliban for an unjust trial," spokesman Yusuf Ahmadi said in a statement on their website.
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