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Afghan policeman killed by motorbike suicide bombers

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside an anti-drugs office in Afghanistan on Monday, killing a policeman, while a NATO air raid killed at least eight rebels, officials said.

Updated on: Feb 23, 2009, 16:35:41 IST
AFP | By , Herat
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Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside an anti-drugs office in Afghanistan on Monday, killing a policeman, while a NATO air raid killed at least eight rebels, officials said.

HT Image
HT Image

The bombers, riding a motorbike, tried to enter the counter-narcotics office in Zaranj, the capital of the southwestern Nimroz province, provincial governor Ghulam Dastagir Azad told AFP.

“Police guarding the gate tried to stop them as they tried to enter the building. They exploded themselves and killed the police officer,” he said.

Two other policemen were wounded in the blast, he added. Afghanistan is the world’s biggest supplier of drugs owing to its poppy cultivation that the Western-backed government in Kabul is trying to eradicate with international assistance.

Taliban insurgents, who benefit from drugs money, have frequently targeted counter-narcotic efforts.

In the neighbouring province of Badghis, NATO warplanes killed at least eight Taliban militants after the rebels attacked police last evening, Afghan officials said.

“Last night, Taliban attacked police posts. Afghan forces requested air support from the international forces. The area was bombed and eight Taliban were killed,” deputy provincial governor Abdul Ghani Saberi told AFP.

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