KANDAHAR, Oct 13: A suicide attack and bomb blasts killed at least nine people in Afghanistan, including two coalition forces members, in southern Kandahar province, Isaf and local officials said on Saturday.

A suicide bomber targeted a group of foreign soldiers and Afghan intelligence agents in Maruf district of Kandahar province, killing two coalition members and four agents, officials said.

Earlier a roadside bomb ripped through a police vehicle in Qalat, the capital of neighbouring Zabul province, killing two policemen and wounding three others, officials said.

Violence has recently spiked in southern Afghanistan, with Taliban militants increasing their attacks on Afghan and Nato-led forces.

The attacks also regularly take a toll on Afghan civilians. A 12-year-old boy was killed and 10-year-old girl wounded after stepping on a bomb in Kajaki district of volatile Helmand province in southern Afghanistan on Friday, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement.

The children were grazing their sheep in the area, it said. The statement blamed “armed insurgents”, a term used by Afghan officials to refer to the Taliban, for the casualties.

Isaf said the suicide blast in Kandahar province also wounded several coalition civilian members and Afghan National Security Forces.

“Isaf can confirm that one coalition forces service member and one coalition forces civilian, along with several ANSF service members, died today in southern Afghanistan,” Isaf spokesman Adam Wojack said. “The injured personnel were evacuated to Isaf medical facilities for treatment,” he said.

The attacker was on foot and detonated his explosives-filled vest at a checkpoint close to an office of NDS, the Afghan intelligence agency, according to Kandahar provincial spokesman Jawed Faisal.

“The foreign and Afghan officials were standing at the checkpoint when the attacker blew himself up.

“The blast killed four NDS agents and wounded three others. There were some casualties among foreigners too,” he said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to their spokesman Qari Yousif Ahmadi, saying the attack killed six foreigners and several Afghan security forces.

The United States led an invasion in 2001 to topple the Taliban government for harbouring Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. The Taliban were quickly routed, but launched an insurgency that grew in strength over the years until Nato had some 130,000 troops from 50 countries defending the western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

The troops have now begun pulling out and all foreign combat forces will be gone by the end of 2014, according to a withdrawal schedule agreed to by the US and Nato.—AFP

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.