Kunduz: A suicide bomber attacked the compound of the governor of Afghanistan's northern Takhar province on Saturday, Afghan officials said, killing the region's most senior police officer and several Afghan and international troops.
Senior police and provincial government officials were meeting when the bomber attacked, sending flames and a column of smoke into the air.
"I heard a loud explosion from inside the governor's compound," said provincial government prosecutor Wazir Mohammad Jalali, whose office is beside the site of the blast in the Takhar capital, Taloqan.
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said initial reports indicated several casualties among ISAF troops and Afghan security officials but declined further comment.
The governor and provincial police chief were inside the compound at the time of the explosion along with the head of police for all of north Afghanistan, General Dawood Dawood, said a security source, who is based in Taloqan.
The head of Takhar's main hospital said Dawood was killed in the blast. The governor was also wounded and three foreign troops were also killed, a spokesman for the governor said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying suicide bombers had targeted senior leaders, killing several and wounding the governor.
"Fighters are still inside the governor's compound," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by telephone from undisclosed location.
The Taliban often exaggerate claims about attacks.
German troops are based in neighbouring Kunduz province, and have oversight of Takhar, but there is no major permanent base for international troops in an area once considered among Afghanistan's most peaceful provinces.
Comments
0 comment