Daily Security Brief: February 27, 2012

ISLAMABAD: Seven people were killed and 22 others wounded when a blast ripped through a public gathering organised by the ruling Awami National Party (ANP) in the northwestern city of Nowshera on Monday.

The bomb attached to a motorbike exploded outside the venue moments after the public meeting had ended, a senior police official said, adding that the injured included four policemen.

The district police chief said the attack, targeting the meeting, happened soon after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti and several other provincial ministers had left the area.

A hospital source said six of the injured evacuated to the Nowshera District Headquarters were in critical condition. Three kilograms of explosives were used in the blast, the third in five days in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but Pakistani Taliban are often blamed for targeting government officials.

–Qaisar Yosufzai

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KABUL: Four government officials have been detained on charges of spying for foreign intelligence networks, a spokesman for the Afghan spy service said on Monday.

The detainees included a junior employee at the foreign ministry and three officials of others government departments, National Directorate of Security (NDS) spokesman Lotfullah Mashal told Pajhwok Afghan News. 

He accused the individuals of involvement in spying for the intelligence networks of foreign countries and leaking secret documents to them. Without disclosing their identity, he said the detainees were under investigation.

Deputy foreign ministry spokeswoman, Faramarz Tamana, confirmed the arrest of an employee by intelligence operatives. However, she would not go into details.

—Khwaja Baser Ahmad

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KABUL: Five insurgents were killed and 22 others detained in a series of joint operations by Afghan and foreign troops in different provinces over the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said on Monday.

An MoI statement said the operations were conducted in Kunduz, Balkh, Kandahar, Nimroz, Maidan Wardak, Khost, Ghazni and Logar provinces.

Nine weapons, two hand-grenades, eight magazines, two walkie-talkies, 100 kilograms of explosives, 207 kilograms of opium and 30 kilograms of heroin were seized.

The seizure came a day after police defused four anti-vehicle mines, two jerry cans of explosives and an explosives-laden vehicle in central Uruzgan and southern Helmand provinces. 

In central Kabul province, the ministry said, five people were arrested by the 101st Asmayee zone police on charges of murder and robberies in the 3rd, 5th and 6th police districts of the capital.

Meanwhile, six mines and a rocket-launcher were seized by Afghan National Army (ANA) troops in the Surkhakan district of Laghman and Panjwai district of Kandahar, the Ministry of Defence said in a separate statement. 

Two ANA soldiers were wounded in the Nanglam area of Kunar province and three others in Greshk district of Helmand.

—Muhammad Hassan Khetab

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NANGARHAR: Nine insurgents were killed and three others injured during a clash with border police in the Nazian district of eastern Nangarhar province on Monday, officials said.

The clash erupted in the Zaisar area early in the morning after a police check-post came under attack, border police commander in the eastern zone, Wali Khan Shinwari, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Some of the attackers were killed but police suffered no casualties. Border police spokesman, Idrees Momand, said police had received an intelligence tip about the ambush and hence their readiness to deal with it.

Nine insurgents were killed and three arrested with seven weapons.  Five dead bodies were still lying at the scene he continued.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed heavy fighting in Nazian district, but had no details of casualties.

–Abdul Mueed Hashimi

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