Suicide bomber in police uniform kills 5 Afghan policemen

By DPA

Kabul : A suicide bomber disguised in police uniform detonated his explosives-filled vest in southern Afghanistan Thursday, killing himself and five policemen, while a NATO soldier was killed and two wounded by a roadside bomb in the eastern region, officials said.


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The bomber entered a police checkpoint in Spin Boldak district of southern Kandahar province while the policemen were having lunch, General Abdul Razaq, border police commander told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA).

"The blast killed five policemen and wounded another 11 forces and two rooms of the checkpoint were also destroyed," Razaq said.

He blamed Taliban militants for the attack which took place near the Afghan border with Pakistan.

In the eastern region of the country, one NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier was killed and two wounded when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb, ISAF said in a statement.

The two wounded soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to an ISAF medical facility for treatment. They were listed in stable condition, the statement said.

It did not identify the nationalities of the soldiers, nor did it provide information regarding the exact location of the blast. The majority of the forces stationed in eastern Afghanistan are Americans.

The attacks came a day after six Canadian soldiers serving under ISAF command and their Afghan translator were killed in a roadside bomb blast in Kandahar province.

Wednesday's attack was the deadliest targeting ISAF troops in more than a month.

Suicide and roadside attacks have become common tactics for the Taliban who sustained severe losses during the face-to-face fighting with Afghan and international forces in 2006.

The violence this year has so far left nearly 3,000 people dead, mostly insurgents but also including at least 100 foreign soldiers in the country.

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