Fatalities as bomber strikes at Friendship Gate

KANDAHAR CITY (PAN): Several people were killed and wounded in a suicide attack in southern Kandahar province on Friday, an official said.

The bomber, trying to enter the border town of Spin Boldak, blew himself up at the Friendship Gate at 9.30am, according to the governor’s spokesman.

Javed Faisal told Pajhwok Afghan News the bomber on foot was coming from Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province.

A border police official and a civilian were killed in the explosion, which wounded eight others, including a policeman, the official added.

But Pakistani officials based in the Chaman town of Balochistan put the toll at six dead and 19 injured. One security official, who did not want to be named, told Dawn.com the bomber targeted a vehicle of Afghan border police.

Witnesses said the bomber struck at a time when a large number of people were crossing the border. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

One Afghan official said four people were killed and more than 10 others injured, some critically. He added the gate was closed after the attack and a search operation launched in the area.

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