Bomb attacks kill at least 22 in Afghanistan
More than 20 people were killed in separate bomb attacks in Afghanistan on June 20, including at least 14 who died when a suicide bomber struck a minibus carrying Nepali security guards working at the Canadian embassy in Kabul, officials said.
 |
A Reuters witness saw several apparently dead victims and at least two wounded being carried out of the remains of a yellow bus after the suicide bomber struck the vehicle in the capital.
Hours later, a bomb planted in a motorbike killed at least eight civilians and wounded another 18 in a crowded market in the northern province of Badakhshan, said provincial government spokesman Naveed Frotan. The casualty count could rise, he said.
The attacks are the latest in a surge of violence that highlights the challenges faced by the government and its Western backers, as Washington considers whether to delay plans to reduce the number of its troops in Afghanistan.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said on Twitter that 14 people had been killed and eight wounded in the attack in Kabul. Police were working to identify the victims, he said.
Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion issued a statement condemning the attack and confirming that the guards worked at the embassy. "Many of the victims have been part of our embassy family for years," he said.
Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said the suicide bomber had waited near a compound housing the security contractors and struck as the vehicle moved through early morning traffic. Several people in an adjacent market were also wounded in the attack during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The Taliban claimed responsibility in a statement from the Islamist group's main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, on Twitter. It denied responsibility for the attack in Badakhshan, however.
Islamic State, which is bitterly opposed by the Taliban, said it carried out the Kabul attack. But Zabihullah Mujahid dismissed the claim as "rubbish".
