 US Vice President Joe Biden (C) arrives to meet with Mohammad Halim Fidai, Governor of Wardak province at a US base in Maidan Shar Wardak province. AFP photo. |
The Taliban took aim at Afghanistan's intelligence services Wednesday, killing four people and wounding more than 30 in two separate attacks, including a suicide bombing on a bus in the capital, officials said.
The attacks follow a surprise visit to Kabul a day earlier by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who praised advances made against the insurgency while noting that gains made were "fragile and reversible." Biden left Afghanistan for neighboring Pakistan Wednesday morning. The vise president met with Pakistan leaders as part of American efforts to get Islamabad to intensify the fight against Islamist militants sheltering along the Afghan border.
Washington is committed to giving Pakistan $7.5 billion in aid in the coming years to improve the lives of ordinary Pakistanis and show its military and civilian leaders that the U.S. is its long-term friend. The U.S. is also asking Islamabad to step up military efforts against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants who use bases in northwest Pakistan to launch attacks on American and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
In Kabul, a suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up next to a minibus carrying intelligence service employees to work early Wednesday, killing two and wounding 29, police and health authorities said. About an hour later in the troubled eastern province of Kunar, a remote-controlled roadside bomb killed an intelligence service colonel and his driver, and wounded two bodyguards, said Abdul Saboor Allahyar, deputy chief of Kunar's provincial police. The Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks.
Insurgents often target Afghan security officials, although over the past few months the nation's capital has been largely spared the worst of the major attacks in the country. The powerful blast in Kabul struck on a busy road during the morning rush-hour, shattering the windows of dozens of houses. The suicide bomber's body lay in the street near the wreckage of his motorbike as police and intelligence officials cordoned off the area.
The attacks follow a surprise visit to Kabul a day earlier by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who praised advances made against the insurgency while noting that gains made were "fragile and reversible." Biden left Afghanistan for neighboring Pakistan Wednesday morning. The vise president met with Pakistan leaders as part of American efforts to get Islamabad to intensify the fight against Islamist militants sheltering along the Afghan border.
Washington is committed to giving Pakistan $7.5 billion in aid in the coming years to improve the lives of ordinary Pakistanis and show its military and civilian leaders that the U.S. is its long-term friend. The U.S. is also asking Islamabad to step up military efforts against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants who use bases in northwest Pakistan to launch attacks on American and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
In Kabul, a suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up next to a minibus carrying intelligence service employees to work early Wednesday, killing two and wounding 29, police and health authorities said. About an hour later in the troubled eastern province of Kunar, a remote-controlled roadside bomb killed an intelligence service colonel and his driver, and wounded two bodyguards, said Abdul Saboor Allahyar, deputy chief of Kunar's provincial police. The Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks.
Insurgents often target Afghan security officials, although over the past few months the nation's capital has been largely spared the worst of the major attacks in the country. The powerful blast in Kabul struck on a busy road during the morning rush-hour, shattering the windows of dozens of houses. The suicide bomber's body lay in the street near the wreckage of his motorbike as police and intelligence officials cordoned off the area.
No comments:
Post a Comment