Afghan blasts, gunbattle kill at least 15 people

KABUL – Suicide attackers detonated two bombs in Afghanistan yesterday, killing three policemen, after a dozen militants were killed in an overnight battle, officials and the US military said.

The target of one bomber was a provincial official travelling in a vehicle in the southeastern province of Paktika, a bastion of Taliban guerrillas near the border with Pakistan. The official survived, but one of his police bodyguards was killed and two were wounded, a provincial official said.In the second attack in the relatively secure northern province of Kunduz, the bomber detonated an explosives-packed car as police pursued him, the province’s governor said.”Police were chasing the bomber when he blew the explosives.Two policemen were martyred and three wounded,” Kunduz governor Mohammad Omar said.There was no immediate claim of responsibility.Separately, over a dozen insurgents were killed in the southern province of Kandahar during a five-hour battle with Afghan and coalition troops, the US-led military said in a statement.It was the latest in a series of clashes in the Taliban-dominated south in recent weeks in which the US-led military says coalition forces have killed hundreds of insurgents.The Taliban concede some losses, but say the reported toll by the military is lie.Violence has surged in the past 19 months in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since US-led troops overthrew Taliban’s government in 2001 in retaliation for the Sept.11 attacks on the United States.More than 7 000 people have been killed during that period.Nampa-ReutersThe official survived, but one of his police bodyguards was killed and two were wounded, a provincial official said.In the second attack in the relatively secure northern province of Kunduz, the bomber detonated an explosives-packed car as police pursued him, the province’s governor said.”Police were chasing the bomber when he blew the explosives.Two policemen were martyred and three wounded,” Kunduz governor Mohammad Omar said.There was no immediate claim of responsibility.Separately, over a dozen insurgents were killed in the southern province of Kandahar during a five-hour battle with Afghan and coalition troops, the US-led military said in a statement.It was the latest in a series of clashes in the Taliban-dominated south in recent weeks in which the US-led military says coalition forces have killed hundreds of insurgents.The Taliban concede some losses, but say the reported toll by the military is lie.Violence has surged in the past 19 months in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since US-led troops overthrew Taliban’s government in 2001 in retaliation for the Sept.11 attacks on the United States.More than 7 000 people have been killed during that period.Nampa-Reuters