Afghan police killed in suicide bombing

Source: Agencies | March 17, 2009, Tuesday |

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A SUICIDE bomber in a police uniform detonated explosives he was carrying inside a police headquarters in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing 11 people and wounding 29 others, the Interior Ministry said.

The bombing followed a surge in violence in Afghanistan over the weekend that led to the deaths of eight foreign troops, including four Americans.

The bomber set off his explosives after slipping inside the main police building in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, while the police were exercising, said Asadullah Sherzad, the provincial police chief.

The attack killed nine police and two civilians and wounded 29 others, mostly police, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The attack is most likely the work of Taliban militants, who regularly use suicide bombers in their attacks against Afghan and foreign forces in the country. The lightly armed police force has suffered greatly in Taliban attacks, with more than 800 officers killed in 2008 alone.

Southern Afghanistan is the center of the Taliban insurgency. The Uinted States is sending thousands of new troops to the south this year to try to reverse Taliban gains.

The Islamic militants have made a violent comeback in the past three years following an apparent initial defeat after the 2001 US invasion.

Attacks in Helmand over the weekend killed three British troops, while a roadside bomb in the east on Sunday killed four US troops.

A French soldier was also killed in a clash on Saturday, making the weekend one of the deadliest two-day periods for international troops in weeks.

The spike in violence is an early indication that roadside bombs and other ambushes are likely to surge as 17,000 US forces arrive in Afghanistan this year to bolster the record 38,000 Americans already in the country.

Meanwhile in Pakistan up to 50 militants attacked a terminal for trucks carrying supplies to US and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan early yesterday, in the second such assault in Pakistan in two days.

World

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Afghan police killed in suicide bombing

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