One policeman killed, five injured in Baghlan attack

PUL-I-KHUMRI (PAN): One local policeman was killed and his five colleagues injured in a suicide and gun attack in Pul-i-Khumri, the capital of northern Baghlan province on Monday, a day after seven policemen, including a commander, were killed in a suicide blast, officials said.

The attack took place in front of a tribal elder’s house around 11:30 am in the Poza Wazirabad area of Dand Ghori, deputy police chief Col. Syed Zamanuddin Hussaini told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Three gunmen wearing suicide vests tried to storm the house of a tribal elder, Mullah Alam, but security officials guarding the house engaged them in a gunbattle, he said. One of the attackers blew himself up and the remaining two fled the scene, Hussaini said.

He said six policemen were injured by kalashnikov bullets in the gunbattle. One of the injured policemen later died in hospital.

A resident of the area, Jan Mohammad, who witnessed the incident, said the remains of the suicide bomber were littered at the scene.

The target, Mullah Alam, a former Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan commander, told Pajhwok Afghan News he was meeting with tribal elders and local police officials on the second floor of his guesthouse when they heard gunshots and then a blast.

He said the attackers tried to reach the second floor, but were stopped by the guards at the gate.

The deputy police chief said a search was ongoing to arrest or kill the two fleeing attackers.

A doctor at the Baghlan civil hospital, Dr. Mohammad Shafique, confirmed receiving six injured policemen at the hospital. One of them died of his wounds, he said, adding the remaining five are in stable condition.

The attack came a day after a suicide bomber detonated his vest near a mosque.

ma/kg