Jun 6, 2012

Kandahar Hit By Suicide Attackers

Two suicide bombers have killed at least 22 people at a bazaar near the Afghan city of Kandahar, local police have told the BBC.

Provincial police chief Abdul Raziq said the area was used by drivers whose vehicles carry supplies for Nato.

Some 50 people were also hurt in the attack, near the city's airport, which houses a large Nato airbase.

The Taliban said they carried out the attack. Kandahar province is a centre of Taliban activity.

Officials said almost all of those killed in the latest attack were civilians, and they included shopkeepers and passersby.

Some of the wounded were said to be in a critical condition.

A statement from the Kandahar governor's office said it was "another example of the insurgents' total disregard for innocent lives".

"This attack will not stop the people of Kandahar from building their future through the legitimate government and strengthens our resolve to work together and defeat these violent attacks," the statement said.
Map

The first suicide attacker was on a motorcycle and struck a line of trucks waiting to supply Nato forces at Kandahar airport.

Minutes later, when a crowd had gathered a second attacker, on foot, detonated a explosives vest.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul says the bazaar is the last stopping point before the trucks get to the airbase, and would have been very busy when the bombers struck.

"Kandahar is bleeding," a tribal elder told the BBC in the aftermath of the bomb.

He described seeing "mutilated bodies, blood, panic and carnage" at the scene of the blast.

Kandahar airport is about 16km (10 miles) south-east of the city.

The airport is Nato's biggest base in southern Afghanistan.

Source: BBC News 

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Share

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More