More die as Afghan attacks escalate
Source: Agencies |
August 3, 2011, Wednesday
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A SUICIDE bomber blew up his car outside a compound frequented by foreigners just after dawn yesterday, killing four guards, as two other militants stormed the building in Kunduz city and engaged the Afghan police in a two-hour gunbattle.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault - the latest in a rising number of attacks in northern Afghanistan.
The explosion rocked the neighborhood around the walled compound, said Mubobullah Sayedi, a provincial spokesman. "When the bomber blew himself up, the explosion shook everything," he said. "It broke glass everywhere."
Four Afghan guards were killed and 10 other people, including a policeman, were wounded, Sayedi said. Foreigners staying at the two-story complex escaped through the rear of the building, he said.
Sarwar Husseini, a provincial police spokesman, said the building was used by two security companies, at least one of which provides security for GIZ, a German development and assistance organization that contracts mostly with the German government. Husseini and other Afghan officials had previously said the compound was a hotel housing GIZ employees.
Husseini said the compound serves as both office and housing for the companies.
Hans Stehling, a spokesman for GIZ, said the building is used by a security company called Kabora employed by GIZ, but not for GIZ employees. Kabora could not be reached for comment.
"GIZ was not the target," Stehling said.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Associated Press the assailants had attacked a "German intelligence center and security company."
The compound burned and several nearby buildings were damaged.
Ahmadullah, a 30-year-old shopkeeper, said: "We heard a very big explosion that shook all of Kunduz. It was a very strong explosion."
He said he and his family quickly ran out of the neighborhood to a relative's house. Worried they were still too close to the fighting, they moved even farther away to another relative's house.
"All my children were so scared," he said. "We have never been so close to a suicide bombing."
Fighting has been focused in southern and eastern Afghanistan, but insurgents have been conducting a rising number of attacks in the once-peaceful north.
Last month, a vehicle carrying the deputy governor of Kunduz province was hit by a roadside bomb, injuring three of his bodyguards.
In June, a bombing at a bazaar in the province killed at least 10 people. Also in June, three policemen died when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque, and another bomber hit a German Nato convoy, killing three.
In May, a suicide bomber infiltrated a high-level meeting in neighboring Takhar province, killing northern Afghanistan's police commander, General Mohammed Daoud, provincial police chief Shah Jehan Noori and two German soldiers.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault - the latest in a rising number of attacks in northern Afghanistan.
The explosion rocked the neighborhood around the walled compound, said Mubobullah Sayedi, a provincial spokesman. "When the bomber blew himself up, the explosion shook everything," he said. "It broke glass everywhere."
Four Afghan guards were killed and 10 other people, including a policeman, were wounded, Sayedi said. Foreigners staying at the two-story complex escaped through the rear of the building, he said.
Sarwar Husseini, a provincial police spokesman, said the building was used by two security companies, at least one of which provides security for GIZ, a German development and assistance organization that contracts mostly with the German government. Husseini and other Afghan officials had previously said the compound was a hotel housing GIZ employees.
Husseini said the compound serves as both office and housing for the companies.
Hans Stehling, a spokesman for GIZ, said the building is used by a security company called Kabora employed by GIZ, but not for GIZ employees. Kabora could not be reached for comment.
"GIZ was not the target," Stehling said.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Associated Press the assailants had attacked a "German intelligence center and security company."
The compound burned and several nearby buildings were damaged.
Ahmadullah, a 30-year-old shopkeeper, said: "We heard a very big explosion that shook all of Kunduz. It was a very strong explosion."
He said he and his family quickly ran out of the neighborhood to a relative's house. Worried they were still too close to the fighting, they moved even farther away to another relative's house.
"All my children were so scared," he said. "We have never been so close to a suicide bombing."
Fighting has been focused in southern and eastern Afghanistan, but insurgents have been conducting a rising number of attacks in the once-peaceful north.
Last month, a vehicle carrying the deputy governor of Kunduz province was hit by a roadside bomb, injuring three of his bodyguards.
In June, a bombing at a bazaar in the province killed at least 10 people. Also in June, three policemen died when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque, and another bomber hit a German Nato convoy, killing three.
In May, a suicide bomber infiltrated a high-level meeting in neighboring Takhar province, killing northern Afghanistan's police commander, General Mohammed Daoud, provincial police chief Shah Jehan Noori and two German soldiers.
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