3 police dead in Baghlan roadside bombing

PUL-I-KHUMRI (PAN): Three public order policemen were killed and two others sustained injuries on Thursday when their vehicle struck a landmine in northern Baghlan province, an official said.

The explosion in Tahiryan village in the Baghlan-i-Markazi district took place in the noon, the district police chief, Syed Mir Watandost, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said the dead policemen included a commander, Mohammad Noor. The public order policemen were on a patrol in the area when came under attack.

A doctor at the Baghlan Civil Hospital’s surgical ward, Khalil Naramgoy, confirmed receiving two injured public order policemen, saying one of them was in critical condition.

The Taliban have immediately asserted responsibility for the bomb attack, with their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid putting the death toll for the police at nine with several others wounded.

But a resident of the village, Arbab Aslam, said there were six policemen on the vehicle when it hit a landmine.

Soon after the blast, the elder said another three police ranger pick-up vehicles arrived and prevented people from getting closer to the attack site.

The incident comes a month after one policeman was killed and two others injured in a similar attack in the same district’s Shafikhel area.

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