Kabul - A suicide attack in southern Afghanistan left four
civilians dead and wounded four soldiers Friday. In separate
incidents, four insurgents were killed and eight arrested in
operations in the north and east of the country.
A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle in front of
an Afghan army base in the Shah Joy district of southern Zabul
province on Friday, killing four civilians and wounding four soldiers
from the Afghan army, Gulob Shah Alikhail, the deputy provincial
governor said.
He said that four dead civilians were daily-wage workers, who were
queuing to enter the base when the attack took place.
The Taliban took responsibility for the attack in a statement
posted on their website. It claimed one of their fighters, named
Matiullah Zabuli, carried out the attack.
The statement claimed that 24 Afghan soldiers were killed in the
attack and that the base was badly destroyed. However, the Taliban
often exaggerate the number of casualties they inflict during their
operations.
In separate incidents, Afghan and coalition forces killed four
suspected militants and detained eight others in operations in
northern and eastern provinces, the US military reported in a
statement.
Joint forces conducted an operation against the Hizb-e-Islami
Gulbuddin network in Tagab district of north-eastern province of
Kapisa. Four militants were killed in a firefight, the statement
said.
The militants opened fire and used hand grenades against coalition
forces approaching their position, the statement said. The statement
added that a child and woman were wounded by the hand grenade
explosion and taken to a coalition hospital for treatment.
Three militants were also detained by the joint forces, the
statement said.
Five other militants were detained by Afghan and coalition forces
in Mandozai district of the south-eastern province of Khost, the
statement said.
The arrested men were suspected of carrying out suicide and
roadside attacks against the Afghan and international forces in the
area, it said.
The Taliban lost control of Afghanistan in 2001. They have
recently heavily relied on suicide and roadside attacks in their war
against the Western-backed Afghan government.
More than 100 suicide attacks have been conducted by Taliban
militants since the beginning of this year in Afghanistan.
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