Shardul.....the lion
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Suicide bombers, gunmen attack Afghan provincial capital
Suicide bombers, gunmen attack Afghan provincial capital
A team of insurgents kills at least 21 people, many of them women and children, in Oruzgan. The audacious attack is the latest in a wave of Taliban assaults in southern Afghanistan that underscores the deteriorating security situation there
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan A team of insurgent suicide bombers and gunmen struck a provincial capital Thursday, killing as many as 21 people in an audacious attack that underscored deteriorating security conditions across Afghanistan's restive south.
Women and children accounted for about half the dead, Afghan officials said. The toll also included at least three policemen and an Afghan journalist. About three dozen people were reported injured.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the strike in Tarin Kot, the capital of Oruzgan province. Oruzgan borders Kandahar province, where a wave of violence in recent weeks included Wednesday's assassination of the mayor of Kandahar city.
The bombings in Tarin Kot, all apparently aimed at government installations, were followed by fierce gun battles that continued for hours, causing residents to flee in panic. Thursday afternoon marks the end of the Afghan workweek, and the town center was crowded with people when the assailants struck about 1 p.m.
Reflecting the degree of chaos, officials gave differing death tolls even hours after the attack. The Interior Ministry put fatalities at 21, excluding the assailants, while the office of President Hamid Karzai reported 18 civilians and members of the security forces killed.
NATO forces provided air support to Afghan officials responding to the attack, Western military officials said. Last month, an insurgent strike on a landmark hotel in the capital, Kabul, ended only with the aid of NATO troops and helicopters.
Although Western military commanders assert that they have deprived Taliban fighters of many of their bases of operation in the south, the insurgents have continued to stage complex urban attacks. They have also carried out a series of assassinations, mainly directed at government and security officials.
Last week, a former governor of Oruzgan who was a senior aide to Karzai was shot dead at his Kabul home, and the week before that, Karzai's half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, was assassinated at his Kandahar compound.
The Taliban claimed that six "martyrdom-seeking" attackers had taken part in the raid in Tarin Kot. A spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, said they were equipped with both light and heavy weapons.
The Interior Ministry put the number of attackers at seven, and said five suicide bombers set off their explosives as they tried to overrun installations including the governor's compound and a police base. At the same time, a remote-controlled bomb planted on a motorcycle went off near police headquarters, the ministry said in a statement.
The government condemned what it described as a brutal attack carried out by "enemies of the people," its usual phrase for the Taliban and other insurgents.
The first six months of this year were the war's deadliest for noncombatants, with civilian deaths increasing by 15% over the first half of 2010, the United Nations reported earlier this month. Many of the attacks aimed at Western troops and government installations kill and maim civilian bystanders instead.
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Taliban targets another key Afghan figure in latest attack
The Taliban's targeting of high-profile Afghan figures raises questions about the NATO strategy of investing in individuals rather than institutions.
Afghan militia leader Matiullah Khan, who appeared to be one of the targets of the latest attack on the southern city of Tarin Kowt, was unharmed.
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BBC reporter among 21 killed in Afghanistan attacks
Taliban bomb and gun attacks on an official's compound and a militia base in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan have killed 21 people, including a local BBC reporter.
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key ally of Afghan Prime Minister murdered
ANOTHER key political ally of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been murdered, the third killed by insurgent assassins this month.
The mayor of the volatile city of Kandahar, Ghulam Haidar Hamidi, was killed in a suicide bomb attack yesterday.
The mayor - a target of previous assassination attempts - was killed when the bomber detonated his explosives in the courtyard of the city hall, where Mr Hamidi was making an address
Read more: Another key ally of Afghan Prime Minister murdered
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Afghan President Karzais Adviser Killed Less Than Week After Half Brother
A senior adviser to Hamid Karzai was shot dead at home in Kabul yesterday in a second blow to the Afghan president less than a week after the assassination of his powerful half brother.
Two militants stormed the home of Jan Mohammed Khan, a former governor of Uruzgan province, at about 8 p.m., killing him as well as parliamentary lawmaker Mohammed Hashem Watanwal, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The gunmen held off security forces for five hours before being shot dead, Hashmatullah Stanekzai, spokesman for Kabuls police chief, said by phone. One police officer died in the encounter.
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Afghan police chief killed in latest wave of militant attacks
In the fifth killing of a senior official in less than a week, the police chief of Afghanistan's Registan district was killed Monday morning by a roadside bomb.
Meanwhile, four International Security Assistance Force service members were killed by an improvised explosive device in separate attacks in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
One other ISAF soldier died of a non-battle related injury.
Monday's roadside bombing left Saleh Mohammad and three other police officers dead in the country's restive Kandahar province, according to provincial spokesman Zelmay Ayoubi.
Their deaths add to a growing casualty list, stemming from sporadic roadside attacks and high-level assassinations.
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President Karzais Brother Killed in Kandahar
Ahmed Wali Karzai, half-brother of President Hamid Karzai, was shot and killed by a regular visitor to his home in Kandahar, where he was the head of the provincial council. Ahmed Karzai was a controversial figure in Afghan politics, with reports that he was on the CIA payroll and involved in drug trafficking
Suicide bombers, gunmen attack Afghan provincial capital
A team of insurgents kills at least 21 people, many of them women and children, in Oruzgan. The audacious attack is the latest in a wave of Taliban assaults in southern Afghanistan that underscores the deteriorating security situation there
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan A team of insurgent suicide bombers and gunmen struck a provincial capital Thursday, killing as many as 21 people in an audacious attack that underscored deteriorating security conditions across Afghanistan's restive south.
Women and children accounted for about half the dead, Afghan officials said. The toll also included at least three policemen and an Afghan journalist. About three dozen people were reported injured.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the strike in Tarin Kot, the capital of Oruzgan province. Oruzgan borders Kandahar province, where a wave of violence in recent weeks included Wednesday's assassination of the mayor of Kandahar city.
The bombings in Tarin Kot, all apparently aimed at government installations, were followed by fierce gun battles that continued for hours, causing residents to flee in panic. Thursday afternoon marks the end of the Afghan workweek, and the town center was crowded with people when the assailants struck about 1 p.m.
Reflecting the degree of chaos, officials gave differing death tolls even hours after the attack. The Interior Ministry put fatalities at 21, excluding the assailants, while the office of President Hamid Karzai reported 18 civilians and members of the security forces killed.
NATO forces provided air support to Afghan officials responding to the attack, Western military officials said. Last month, an insurgent strike on a landmark hotel in the capital, Kabul, ended only with the aid of NATO troops and helicopters.
Although Western military commanders assert that they have deprived Taliban fighters of many of their bases of operation in the south, the insurgents have continued to stage complex urban attacks. They have also carried out a series of assassinations, mainly directed at government and security officials.
Last week, a former governor of Oruzgan who was a senior aide to Karzai was shot dead at his Kabul home, and the week before that, Karzai's half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, was assassinated at his Kandahar compound.
The Taliban claimed that six "martyrdom-seeking" attackers had taken part in the raid in Tarin Kot. A spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, said they were equipped with both light and heavy weapons.
The Interior Ministry put the number of attackers at seven, and said five suicide bombers set off their explosives as they tried to overrun installations including the governor's compound and a police base. At the same time, a remote-controlled bomb planted on a motorcycle went off near police headquarters, the ministry said in a statement.
The government condemned what it described as a brutal attack carried out by "enemies of the people," its usual phrase for the Taliban and other insurgents.
The first six months of this year were the war's deadliest for noncombatants, with civilian deaths increasing by 15% over the first half of 2010, the United Nations reported earlier this month. Many of the attacks aimed at Western troops and government installations kill and maim civilian bystanders instead.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taliban targets another key Afghan figure in latest attack
The Taliban's targeting of high-profile Afghan figures raises questions about the NATO strategy of investing in individuals rather than institutions.
Afghan militia leader Matiullah Khan, who appeared to be one of the targets of the latest attack on the southern city of Tarin Kowt, was unharmed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BBC reporter among 21 killed in Afghanistan attacks
Taliban bomb and gun attacks on an official's compound and a militia base in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan have killed 21 people, including a local BBC reporter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
key ally of Afghan Prime Minister murdered
ANOTHER key political ally of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been murdered, the third killed by insurgent assassins this month.
The mayor of the volatile city of Kandahar, Ghulam Haidar Hamidi, was killed in a suicide bomb attack yesterday.
The mayor - a target of previous assassination attempts - was killed when the bomber detonated his explosives in the courtyard of the city hall, where Mr Hamidi was making an address
Read more: Another key ally of Afghan Prime Minister murdered
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Afghan President Karzais Adviser Killed Less Than Week After Half Brother
A senior adviser to Hamid Karzai was shot dead at home in Kabul yesterday in a second blow to the Afghan president less than a week after the assassination of his powerful half brother.
Two militants stormed the home of Jan Mohammed Khan, a former governor of Uruzgan province, at about 8 p.m., killing him as well as parliamentary lawmaker Mohammed Hashem Watanwal, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The gunmen held off security forces for five hours before being shot dead, Hashmatullah Stanekzai, spokesman for Kabuls police chief, said by phone. One police officer died in the encounter.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Afghan police chief killed in latest wave of militant attacks
In the fifth killing of a senior official in less than a week, the police chief of Afghanistan's Registan district was killed Monday morning by a roadside bomb.
Meanwhile, four International Security Assistance Force service members were killed by an improvised explosive device in separate attacks in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
One other ISAF soldier died of a non-battle related injury.
Monday's roadside bombing left Saleh Mohammad and three other police officers dead in the country's restive Kandahar province, according to provincial spokesman Zelmay Ayoubi.
Their deaths add to a growing casualty list, stemming from sporadic roadside attacks and high-level assassinations.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
President Karzais Brother Killed in Kandahar
Ahmed Wali Karzai, half-brother of President Hamid Karzai, was shot and killed by a regular visitor to his home in Kandahar, where he was the head of the provincial council. Ahmed Karzai was a controversial figure in Afghan politics, with reports that he was on the CIA payroll and involved in drug trafficking
