Kabul: A suicide bomber rammed a car into a
police vehicle on Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, killing a
district police chief, two other policemen and a civilian _
the latest attack targeting those with links to the government
or international forces.
The police chief of Daman district in Kandahar province
where Afghan and NATO forces are ramping up security was among
those killed in the incident on a bridge leading into Kandahar
city, according to Dr Mohammad Rasool at Mirwais Hospital in
Kandahar. Five other Afghan policemen and a civilian were
wounded. The bridge, which recently was rebuilt, was the site
of two bomb attacks against NATO forces in recent months.
In another targeted attack in the south, Taliban
insurgents yesterday night broke into the home of Atta Jan
Kajrwal, the Zabul province director of border and tribal
affairs, killing him and his wife, said Mohammad Jan
Rasoolyar, a spokesman for the governor. Another person was
injured in the attack in Shahjoy district.
Violence is on the rise, especially in the south, as
Afghan and international forces push into areas controlled by
the Taliban. It`s part of a strategy to rout insurgents from
their southern strongholds and provide security for the
population to allow Afghan officials to bolster governance.
NATO reported today that a senior Taliban commander was
among several insurgents detained Monday in Naway-e-Barakzayi
district of Helmand province. The commander, who was not
identified, directed military operations and handled
governance issues in Taliban-controlled areas of the district,
the coalition said.
Also in Helmand, a joint coalition-Afghan force raided a
compound used by the Taliban as a prison, freeing 27 Afghan
civilians who were shackled and held captive, an official
said. Thirteen Taliban fighters were killed in the raid
yesterday in the Musa Qala district, provincial spokesman
Dawood Ahmadi said today. Five captives had been slain before
the force arrived, he said.
PTI
