Bomb kills Afghan police chief, 2 others

November 08, 2011|Associated Press

KABUL - A roadside bomb killed a district police chief and his two bodyguards in a restive southern province in the second attack in as many days targeting local authorities in Afghanistan, police officials said yesterday.

The roadside bomb in Helmand exploded as Mohammad Saifullah, the police chief in the province’s Garm Ser district, was driving by Sunday night, said Mohammad Hakim Angar, Helmand provincial police chief. All three men were killed by the blast.

The province is one of Afghanistan’s most violent, and sits in the heart of the Taliban’s traditional stronghold in the south.

Security responsibilities in Helmand’s capital have already been handed over to Afghan forces by NATO, as part of the US-led coalition’s plan to withdraw its combat troops from the country by the end of 2014. Two other districts in the province are being recommended for an upcoming second phase of handovers, but Garm Ser is not among them.

The police official’s death comes a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up among worshippers concluding prayers on the first day of a main Islamic holiday, killing seven people, including two local police officials, in the northern province of Baghlan. A second would-be suicide bomber was captured before detonating his explosives.

The attacks are part of the insurgency’s strategy of targeting Afghan government and security officials, and raise questions about Afghan security forces’ ability to take on the Taliban by themselves after NATO withdraws its combat forces.

The US-led coalition has said it has made significant gains in curtailing the Taliban’s strength.