SUICIDE BOMBERS KILL 9 AFGHAN SOLDIERS, TWO POLICEMEN
Kabul - At least nine Afghan soldiers and two policemen were killed and nine others injured in suicide bombings in Afghanistan on Sunday, officials said.
Five Afghan soldiers were killed and nine injured when two suicide bombers attacked a military vehicle in Kabul, the Interior Ministry said.
In another incident, suicide bombers attacked an army recruiting base in the northern province of Kunduz, killing four soldiers and two policemen, officials said.
The attack in the capital took place on the Jalalabad highway, which has been used by the Taliban to target NATO and US convoys.
One of the attackers detonated his suicide vest, while the other was killed by police, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashari said.
“Two suicide bombers attacked the Afghan national army vehicle on Jalalabad highway. Five people from Afghan army died. Nine others were injured,” Bashari said.
There were no civilian casualties.
The attack in Kunduz left at least six security personnel dead.
“I can confirm that four Afghan army soldiers were killed in the gunfight,” an intelligence officer said on condition of anonymity.
“Two policemen were also killed in the gunfight along with at least three suicide bombers,” Kunduz provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Sayedkhili said.
The fighting ended late evening with the fate of a fourth attacker still unknown.
Police said a group of four or more militants had breached the training centre at 6 am, and two of them had detonated their explosive-packed vests during the shootout.
A reporter for the German Press Agency dpa saw 10 victims being taken to hospital as gunfire and explosions were heard inside the base.
A team of German troops were helping Afghan national security forces in fighting the attackers.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday paid a surprise visit to Kunduz province to meet German troops stationed there.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for both of the attacks.
Violence has escalated in the previously peaceful northern region this year as US forces push against militants in the south.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly condemned the “terrorist attacks on the national army vehicle in Kabul and national army recruiting base.”
The attackers were “enemies of the Afghan people” a statement from the presidential palace said. - Sapa-dpa