Kandahar, Afghanistan, Friday
A suicide bomber killed 17 people and wounded another 21 in assassinating a police commander at a public bath in a southern Afghan town on the border with Pakistan, the local government said.
A nine-year Taliban insurgency is concentrated in southern Afghanistan, but suicide attacks in public places dominated by civilians are relatively rare.
“At around 12pm, a suicide bomber blew up explosives strapped to his chest at a public bath in Spin Boldak,” border police official General Abdul Raziq told AFP.
The local government confirmed from provincial capital Kandahar that at least 17 people had died in the attack and that 23 people were wounded.
The administration released a statement saying that the bomber had been targeting a police commander named Ramazan, who died in the attack. Raziq identified him as head of the local rapid reaction police border unit.
Taliban trademark
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but such attacks are trademarks of the Taliban, who are fighting to bring down the Western-backed Afghan government and expel 140,000 US-led foreign troops.
Spin Boldak is a short distance from the border with Pakistan, where US officials say the Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents use rear bases to plot attacks in Afghanistan and the West.
By: AFP
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