5 Afghan security guards killed in suicide attack
KABUL — Police say five Afghan private security guards escorting a supply convoy have been killed in a suicide bombing near the southern border with Pakistan.
The attack Wednesday comes a day after 10 more local security guards were killed by a roadside bomb elsewhere in the country.
District police chief Safiullah Khan says a suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked the convoy in Spin Boldak district in Kandahar province, about a mile (two kilometers) from the Pakistan border. The convoy was taking supplies to foreign forces in the area.
He also says two shops were damaged in the attack, but no civilians casualties were reported.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
KABUL (AP) — Two roadside bombs tore through a convoy carrying Afghan private security guards, killing 10 of them in eastern Afghanistan, an official said Wednesday.
Another blast in the south killed two Afghan police and wounded five more officers, police said
The convoy in eastern Pakitia province was initially hit by a blast that killed one security guard on Tuesday, said police chief Azizullah Wardak of the province.
A second improvised explosive device then ripped through the convoy and killed nine guards in another vehicle in Paktia’s Chamkani district, Wardak said.
The Afghan guards were based with U.S. troops in the area. It was unclear what security company they were working for, or if they were traveling with American forces.
The attack in the country’s east came as 11 Taliban militants were killed in a joint operation by coalition and Afghan troops in southern Afghanistan.
Coalition and Afghan troops attacked the militants in a compound Tuesday night in southern Zabul province, said police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang. No coalition or Afghan forces were killed or wounded in the operation, he said.
Also Tuesday, two policemen were killed and five others were wounded in a roadside bomb blast in southern Kandahar province, a police official said on Wednesday.
The police were on a patrol in Zhari district when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb, which also wounded five officers, said Bismaullah Khan Zhari, a district police chief.
In a separate incident, a roadside bomb killed a soldier in the NATO-led force on Tuesday, the alliance said. No other details, including the soldier’s nationality, were released.
Militants have stepped up attacks across Afghanistan. President Barack Obama’s administration has ordered 21,000 new U.S. troops to join the fight in a hope of reversing the Taliban gains.
An Associated Press tally that found U.S. deaths in Afghanistan have risen to 65 so far this year, up from 36 over the first five months of 2008 — though U.S. and coalition troops have also killed hundreds more militants.
As newly arriving Marines enter violent Afghan south — the spiritual home of the Taliban and the country’s major drug-producing region — the military said Tuesday that U.S. deaths will likely increase even further this summer.
U.S. experts say they expect improvised explosive device attacks — roadside bombs and suicide attacks — to rise 50 percent this year, contributing to the increase in casualties.
Related News
Top police official says suicide car bomber carried out massive attack in Peshawar, PakistanOctober 9th, 2009 Police: Suicide car bomb behind Pakistan attackPESHAWAR, Pakistan — A top Pakistani police official says a deadly attack in the northwestern city of Peshawar was launched by a suicide bomber in an explosives-laden car. Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan says the vehicle was packed with a "huge quantity of explosives and artillery rounds."
Officials say the blast killed 41 people and injured more than 100 others.
Indian embassy members safe: foreign secretaryOctober 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - All staffers at the Indian embassy that was attacked by a suicide bomber in the Afghan capital Thursday morning were safe, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said here Thursday. She said the blast was "more or less similar" to the July 7, 2008 bombing, in which two Indian diplomats were killed.
Suicide car bomber targets police station in NW Pakistan, killing at least 2, wounding dozensSeptember 25th, 2009 Suicide attack on police kills 2 in NW PakistanPESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a police station in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least two people and wounding 40 others just days after a militant spokesman warned of more attacks. The massive bombing destroyed the police station in Bannu district and most of those hurt were policemen, said police chief Mohammed Farid.
Pakistani military says it has destroyed 3 militant bases and killed 4 insurgents in northwestSeptember 1st, 2009 Pakistan forces destroy 3 militant bases in NWPESHAWAR, Pakistan — Government forces destroyed three militant bases and killed five insurgents Tuesday in Pakistan's northwestern border region, the military said. Two militant commanders were among those killed in the dawn raids in the Khyber region, a statement from the Frontier Corps said.
Pakistani police: Tankers carrying NATO fuel in flames after explosion near Afghan borderAugust 30th, 2009 Pakistan: Border blast sets NATO fuel trucks afireCHAMAN, Pakistan — An explosion ripped through a line of trucks ferrying fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan, setting several oil tankers ablaze Sunday at a backed-up Pakistani border crossing, police said. The blast appeared to be the second terrorist attack Sunday in Pakistan and the second in a week to target a border crossing.
Police: Suicide bomber hits Pakistani checkpoint near Afghan border, killing at least 18August 27th, 2009 Pakistan suicide bomber hits checkpoint; 18 deadPESHAWAR, Pakistan — Police say a suicide bomber has attacked a Pakistani security checkpoint on the Afghan border. At least 18 people are reported dead.
4 Afghan security guards killed in blast in southern provinceJuly 30th, 2009 4 Afghan guards killed in blastKABUL — The government says a roadside blast has killed four Afghan guards in the south of the country. An Interior Ministry statement says the explosion hit the guards' vehicle in Helmand province on Thursday.
21 militants killed following Taliban attack on military supply convoyJuly 16th, 2009 KABUL — Taliban militants attacked a military supply convoy in southern Afghanistan, sparking a gunbattle that killed 21 insurgents and three border police, a provincial official said Thursday. The convoy was targeted Wednesday soon after it crossed the border from Pakistan, said Hamidullah Zhwak, a spokesman for the governor of Paktika province.
3 police killed by suicide car bomber in southern Afghanistan; supply convoy attackedJuly 16th, 2009 Suicide bomber kills 3 police in AfghanistanKABUL — A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden station wagon into a police convoy in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing three police, the Interior Ministry said. Four other police officers were wounded in the morning attack in Nimroz province's Khashord district, the ministry said in a statement.
Taliban attacks kill 9 in Afghanistan, including 5 policeJune 7th, 2009 Taliban attacks kill 9 in AfghanistanKABUL — A Taliban ambush in northwestern Afghanistan killed four policemen early Sunday, while militants killed five other people at the eastern border near Pakistan, officials said. Militants attacked a police security post in northwestern Faryab province, sparking a one-hour battle that killed four police, said Khalil Andrabi, the provincial police chief.
15 Afghan security guards among 35 killed in violenceJune 3rd, 2009 15 Afghan security guards killed in attacksKABUL — A suicide attack and a roadside bomb killed 15 Afghan security guards, part of a spate of violence that left 35 people around Afghanistan dead, including a British soldier, officials said Wednesday. Taliban militants are behind a relentless wave of attacks in Afghanistan, eight years after the U.S.-led invasion.
Suicide attack in Afghanistan kills policemanMay 14th, 2009 KABUL - A suicide bomber attacked a police station in the southern province of Kandahar Thursday, killing one policeman and wounding four, a police commander said. The attack, the third in as many days in the war-torn country, took place Thursday morning in Spin Boldak district close to border with Pakistan as a bomber tried to enter the district's border police headquarters with his explosive-packed vehicle, said General Saifullah Hakim, the border police commander in the region.
Pakistani police say suicide attack kills 10 at checkpoint in northwestApril 18th, 2009 Suicide bomber kills 10 at Pakistani checkpointPESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide car bomber attacked security forces manning a checkpoint in Pakistan's troubled northwest on Saturday, killing at least 10 people, officials said. The checkpoint is near the Orakzai tribal region, which has emerged in recent months as a major base for Taliban militants waging war on the Pakistan government.
Suicide bomb attack kills three in AfghanistanApril 17th, 2009 KABUL - Three people were killed and three others injured Friday in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan's western Nimroz province, an official said. Two militants, with explosives strapped to their bodies, wanted to target the Afghan minister for refugees.
Suicide attack kills 10 in AfghanistanJanuary 8th, 2009 KABUL - A suicide attack Friday morning killed at least 10 people, including a police official, in southern Afghan province of Nimroz, an official said. 'It occurred at around 11.45 a.m.
Loading ...