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At least 34 killed in southern Afghanistan bombing
[DAWN] At least 34 people were killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province on Thursday.The bombing targeted Afghan troops and government employees waiting to collect their salaries ahead of Eidul Fitr, officials said. Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, said at least 34 people had been killed and more than 60 wounded, including members of the police and army, civilians and staff of the New Kabul Bank branch where the attack took place. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Helmand has been at the centre of bitter battles between the Afghan Taliban and Afghan security forces, aided by Nato troops. The insurgents, believed to control nearly 80 per cent of the province's countryside, have increasingly been pressing a push onto Lashkar Gah and its environs in efforts to take the city. In recent weeks, the Afghan Taliban have overrun Helmand's key Sangin district, where both British and US troops had fought for years to keep them at bay. Esmatullah, an Afghan border policeman, who was at the scene of the explosion, said the noise from the blast was deafening. He said many are missing in the ensuing chaos as witnesses, survivors and ambulances struggled to ferry first the most seriously wounded to hospital. Posted by: Fred 2017-06-23 |
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