Ten Afghan civilians perished as a bomber missed his target and detonated himself amid civilians in southeastern Afghanistan early on Sunday. Over three dozen more civilians sustained injuries in the attack that targeted a joint convoy of Afghan and Coalition forces in Gardez, capital of southeastern Paktia province. "Unfortunately we have a report today that at 9:40 a bomber blew himself up in the Gardez roundabout," the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement. "Ten civilians were martyred and about 30 others were wounded." A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said some of its soldiers were wounded in the attack but had no more details. Police chief of the province Abdul Rahman Sarjang said body of the bomber was mutilated beyond recognition, but some marks showed that he was a foreign citizen.
"Hmmm... Mahmoud! Does this nostril look domestic to you?"
"Definitely imported, Ahmed. Ain't nobody around here with a nostril like that!"
Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack without telling who were targeted and said the bomber was an Afghan.
"Really. He wasn't a Pak or a Chechen or an Arab. Trust us on that!"
"That don't look like no Afghan nostril to me!"
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the young man, who carried out the Sunday attack was a national. His name and place was not disclosed, citing some security reasons. "We claim responsibility for the (Gardez) attack. It was a suicide attack," Zabiullah Mujahid said. "Our Afghan mujahid (holy warrior) carried it out."
"Just not very well. But the explosion's the important thing, not the target!"
Police chief Sarjang said the dead and injured were rushed to two public hospitals and some private clinics. He confirmed the killing of 10 civilians and injury of 30 others.
As details emerged about the blast, the governor of Ghazni province said Afghan and NATO forces killed about 30 Taliban militants and arrested 12 others in Qara Bagh district on Saturday night. "Unfortunately three police are missing and one is wounded," the governor, Merajuddin Patan, said.
A spate of attacks in the last week followed the death of the militants' top operational commander, Mullah Dadullah, in a raid last weekend. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for a bombing on Saturday in a crowded market in the northern city of Kunduz. Nine people, including three German soldiers, were killed. German troops patrol northern areas of Afghanistan, which have been relatively safe until recently. "The Taliban are striving to restart their activities in the province," said General Mohammad Ayub Salangi, the security commander in Kunduz province.
"So keep an eye out for Paks!"
One of the 12 people injured in the Kunduz blast was in very serious condition while six others have been released from hospital, he said.