Kabul: A surge of bomb attacks and ambushes
killed at least 18 people, including four NATO soldiers and
six civilians, in flashpoints across Afghanistan ahead of an
expected US surge, officials said on Wednesday.
The string of isolated attacks yesterday underscored the
dangers in rural parts of Afghanistan, where government
authority is often weak, and the deadly nature of roadside
bombs, or improvised-explosive devices (IEDs).
In the bloodiest attack, gunmen ambushed a station wagon,
raking the vehicle with gunfire and killing six Afghan
civilians in eastern Nangarhar province, said a statement from
the presidency.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack.
In the south, the deadliest battlefield for NATO and US
troops in Afghanistan and heartland of the Taliban insurgency,
bomb attacks killed four NATO soldiers -- two British, an
Estonian and an American.
IEDs killed the Estonian and the US soldiers, while the
British died with two Afghan soldiers in a suicide motorbike
attack, said Captain Roy Hermkens, a spokesman for the
NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
The makeshift IEDs, usually planted at the side of a
road, are the biggest killers of foreign soldiers in
Afghanistan and the Taliban's weapon of choice.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 16, 2009, 21:23