3 Afghan soldiers killed in suicide attack

MAIMANA (PAN): Three Afghan soldiers were killed on Wednesday afternoon when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Almar district of western Faryab province.

Mohammad Saleh Saleh, the district’s administrative head, told Pajhwok Afghan News the bomber on a motorbike detonated his explosives near an Afghan army tank in the district centre at about 1pm.

A vehicle of the National Directorate of Security — the Afghan spy service — was destroyed as a result of the explosion that left one soldier wounded, he said.

An Afghan Local Police commander, Sher Mohammad, said an ALP base in the area was the target. “The bomber struck when the army personnel were defusing roadside bombs…”

Mohammad said the motorcyclist, when asked by the troops for a body search, detonated his explosives, killing two ANA soldiers and wounding as many others.

A spokesman for 209^th Shaheen Corps, Maj. Raza, said four soldiers were wounded and their tank destroyed as a result of the bombing. He blamed the Taliban for conducting the attack in retaliation for a security operation in Almar.

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