5 dead, 16 injured in Kandahar attack

KANDAHAR CITY (PAN): Four children and a policeman were killed and 16 others, mostly civilians, injured when a suicide attacker rammed his explosives-packed motorbike into a police outpost in southern Kandahar province, the Ministry of Interior said on Tuesday.

The blast happened at around 12:20pm in the Urdu Bazaar area of Kandahar City, the provincial capital, in the first police district, the ministry said in a statement.

The dead included four children and a policeman, it said, adding another 16 people, including three policeman and six children, were taken to a nearby hospital by police.

The interior ministry condemned the suicide attack and expressed its sincere condolences to the victims’ families.

Earlier, a police official said three civilians and a policeman were killed in the blast that ripped through a convoy of vehicles carrying police.

Abdul Raziq told Pajhwok Afghan News the dead included three civilians and a policeman, while nine others, including three policemen, were wounded in the blast.

He said an investigation had been launched into the attack, for which the Taliban have claimed responsibility.

Rebel spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi said the target was a border police commander, Esmatullah. He said the commander was on a foot patrol when he was attacked. Several policemen were killed and wounded, he said, but stopped short of giving information about the fate of Esmatullah.

myn/ma

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