Police chief among 3 dead in bomb attack

KANDAHAR CITY (PAN): A suicide attacker blew himself up inside the Kandahar police headquarters on Friday, killing the police chief and his two guards, the governor said.

The assailant in a police uniform entered the office of Khan Mohammad Mujahid, the police chief, in Kandahar City in the afternoon, and detonated his explosives, Toryalai Wesa told a press conference.

As a result, he added, Mujahid and his guards were killed and five other policemen injured — two of them critically.

The seriously wounded policemen were being treated at a hospital at the Kandahar airfield while the three others were taken to the Mirwais Civil Hospital, the governor said.

Asked how the bomber managed to enter the fortified building, Wesa replied an investigation had been launched into the attack. President Hamid Karzai had also ordered a commission to probe the assault, he said, adding the panel was expected to arrive soon in Kandahar City.

Gen. Mujahid would be laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard on Saturday, the governor said.

As usual, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack that drew condemnation from President Karzai. In a statement on its website, the militant movement said the assailant was its member.

“The enemies of peace and security in Afghanistan carried out the dastardly attack that killed Khan Mohammad Mujahid,” the statement quoted the president as saying.

“The enemies of Afghanistan want to target prominent and influential individuals on behalf of their foreign masters in a bid to achieve their vicious designs,” Karzai added.

Helicopters were seen hovering over the building, which was cordoned off by security forces immediately after the bombing that took place at about 2:30pm., witnesses said.

Meanwhile, NATO and US forces top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, joined President Karzai in condemning the attack.

“ISAF condemns in the strongest possible terms the murder of Gen. Khan Mohammad and the killing and wounding of five others Afghan policemen in Kandahar,” Petraeus said.

“The police are brave Afghan men, dedicated to protecting the Afghan people and to providing a safer future for the people of Kandahar,” he said.

The attack was the act of cowardly insurgents desperate to prevent the empowerment of the Afghan security forces and the Afghan people, he said, vowing support and work with Afghan partners in bringing those responsible to justice.

ma/mud

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