5 dead in Kandahar bomb attacks

KANDAHAR CITY (PAN): Five people, including policeman, were killed and as many injured in two separate bomb attacks in the southern province of Kandahar, officials said on Monday.

One policeman was killed and five other people were wounded in a suicide car bombing in the fourth police district of Kandahar City at around 10am, the governor’s spokesman said.

Zalmay Ayubi told Pajhwok Afghan News one policeman and four civilians were wounded in the assault. Soon after the bombing, security personnel cordoned off the site.

A doctor on duty at the Mirwais Civil Hospital, wishing not to be named, confirmed receiving four injured people. He said the wounded were in stable condition.

Barriers in front of the district police headquarters were destroyed and the building partially damaged. Body parts of the bomber could be seen at the site.

Resident Abdul Wasi said that the powerful explosion smashed windowpanes of his house, close to the scene. “I came out of my house after the blast and helped police take the injured to hospital.”

On Feb. 05, 2012, five policemen were among seven people killed and 19 others, including children and women, injured in a similar attack in the Shaheedan square of the city.

Late on Sunday evening, four civilians were killed in a roadside bombing in the Sher Jan area of Shah Walikot district. A child was among the dead. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Taliban are blamed for most such attacks.

Meanwhile, the governor’s office strongly condemned the incident, accusing the insurgents of targeting civilians. The governor extended his condolences to the victim’s families.

According to a report by the United Nation (UN), about 3,021 Afghan civilians were killed in 2011. Most of the deaths were caused by insurgents, with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used more widely and suicide attacks becoming deadlier.

mrh/ myn/mud

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