26 Die in Taliban Bomb Attacks

17/01/2006| IslamWeb

Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 26 people in two attacks in southern Afghanistan on Monday, a day after a Canadian diplomat and two civilians were killed in another attack in the area.

The combined toll was the worst in a day from suicide bombings in Afghanistan since US-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001 and came just hours after President Hamid Karzai expressed concern about an increase in such attacks.

An adviser to President Karzai said the aim of the insurgents appeared to be to frighten Nato members who plan to deploy in the volatile south and donors who are due to meet in London at the end of the month to draw up a new long-term assistance plan.

At least 20 people died in the town of Spin Boldak, bordering Pakistan, when a bomber on a motorcycle detonated a device after riding into a playground where hundreds of people had gathered for a festival, officials said.

At least 20 people were hurt in the attack, which the Afghan Press said happened during a wrestling contest.

“It was a suicide attack,” Spin Boldak police chief Abdul Wasi Alekozai said. “The person rode his motorbike into the crowd and blew himself up. The intention of this attack was to create insecurity and fear.”

Earlier, another suicide bomber hurled himself in front of an Afghan army vehicle in the heart of the provincial capital, Kandahar, 110 km to the north, killing three Afghan soldiers and two civilians.

Four Afghan soldiers and 10 civilians were also wounded.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for both bombings.

Taliban official Mullah Sabir Momin said the attack in Spin Boldak had been aimed at the commander of the Afghan border force, General Abdul Raziq, but he was not at the event.

He said seven Afghan soldiers were among the dead.

Teenage bomber

Assadullah, a witness to the bombing in Kandahar city, said the attacker appeared to be a teenager.

“I saw a boy of about 15 with an explosives’ vest running towards the car and then heard the explosion,” he said. “I ran for cover and saw the casualties when I got up.”

Security analysts suspect the Taliban has stepped up bomb attacks after seeing Al Qaeda’s success in Iraq.

The attacks have come at a time when America’s Nato allies are due to take over more responsibility from US troops in Afghanistan and Washington is looking to trim its commitment.

PHOTO CAPTION

A young Afghan boy rides his bicycle on a snow-covered street in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2006. (AP)