E-Paper
Bomb attack kills Afghan policemen: govt
A roadside bomb tore through an Afghan police vehicle killing three policemen and wounding two others in a Taliban stronghold of southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the government said.
A roadside bomb tore through an Afghan police vehicle killing three policemen and wounding two others in a Taliban stronghold of southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the government said.
The police were en route from Lashkar Ghah, capital of Helmand province to neighbouring Girishk district when the blast took place, Daud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP.
"Three policemen were martyred and another two were wounded," Ahmadi said.
He blamed the attack on "enemies of Afghanistan", a term often used to refer to Taliban militants who are waging an insurgency now at record levels since they were ousted from government by the 2001 US-led invasion.
Seven civilians, including women and children, were killed when their vehicle hit a bomb in the neighbouring province of Kandahar on Wednesday.
Southern Afghanistan has been hit hard by the Taliban insurgency, which has paralysed a Western-backed reconstruction drive, cost the lives of thousands of people, and bogged NATO and US troops down in a nearly eight-year conflict.
