Blasts kill Afghan police officers

17/05/2007| IslamWeb

Two bomb blasts minutes apart on a road in the southern city of Kandahar have killed several police officers and wounded many people, Al Jazeera says.

First, a remote control bomb blast killed four officers inside a police vehicle on Thursday, Gul Zaman, the police official, said.

About 15 minutes later, a secondary blast hit police attending to the wreckage of the first bomb, killing another six policemen and wounding five, Zaman said.

Both blasts were apparently caused by remotely detonated bombs, witnesses said.

Al Jazeera report

Samir Allawi, Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Kabul, said 12 people were killed in the Kandahar explosions, including two policemen. Agencies said at least 10 police officers were killed and five people were wounded.

The first blast struck a vehicle belonging to a US security company, killing four Afghan employees and wounding one person, he said.

Nadir Jumaa, an Al Jazeera Afghanistan office employee, was also injured in the blasts.

A third roadside explosion took place at the same site but there was no word on casualties, he said.

Separately, a spokesman for the Taliban in the eastern province of Nuristan said six US soldiers and 20 Afghan soldiers were killed in clashes with the group's fighters on Thursday morning in Camdech area.

However, the office of the Nuristan governor refused to comment on the claim, Al Jazeera said.

In a separate incident on Thursday, a provincial police chief was wounded in an attack that killed one of his bodyguards and wounded another.

The attack occurred in Faizabad, the capital of the northeastern Badakhshan province.

Violence foretold

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, said on Thursday that the co-ordinated bombings in Kandahar were planned to hit police responding to the first blast.

The violence came less than a week after Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban field commander, was killed during a US-led operation in neighbouring Helmand province.

The Taliban have warned of "bad consequences" if the government didn't hand over Dadullah's body to his relaives.

Kandahar's governor has said that Dadullah was buried at a secret location near Kandahar.

Border clash

Also early on Thursday, Pakistani and Afghan troops exchanged mortar and gun fire on their disputed border, days after clashes on the frontier claimed more than a dozen lives, a Pakistani official said.

The two-hour battle erupted after Afghan forces fired a mortar at Pakistani soldiers near the Teri Mangal area in the Khyber tribal district, a Pakistani military spokesman said on condition of  anonymity.

"Pakistani forces responded effectively and the exchange of fire  continued until 5am local time. There were no casualties on the Pakistani side," the spokesman said.

There was no immediate response from Afghan authorities.

Fatalities

The clash happened near an area where a US soldier and a Pakistani trooper were shot dead on Monday after a meeting, also involving Afghan officials, that was aimed at calming tensions.

Afghan officials meanwhile accused Pakistan of starting clashes in the same area on Sunday that continued into Monday, saying Pakistani troops pushed 4km over the  disputed border.

Pakistan denied the charges.

Thirteen Afghans were killed in the fighting, which included rocket fire, Afghan officials said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Afghan President Hamid Karzai addresses a crowd during a visit to the Shindand District of Herat province. (AFP)

Al-Jazeera