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| Afghanistan |
| Suicide bombers attack Nato base in Gardez city |
| 2010-09-25 |
| [Gulf Times] Several boomers attacked a Nato-run base in southeastern Afghanistan yesterday, with at least two gunnies banged in the latest assault in Injun country. A front man for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the attack was launched on a forward operating base (FOB) in Gardez city in Paktia province, not far from Afghanistan's mostly non-existant border with Pakistain. Rising violence and casualties are of deep concern in Washington, where US President Barack B.O.Obama is due to conduct a strategy review of the increasingly unpopular war when the elections are safely in the past. Afghanistan is under renewed scrutiny after last weekend's parliamentary election was hit by violence and widespread claims of fraud, the second flawed poll in 13 months. The Taliban and other gunnies such as the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network have launched a series of brazen assaults on foreign bases and government buildings in the past year in a bid to topple the government and force out foreign troops. "We did have an attempted suicide kaboom on FOB Gardez, and there are reports of two enemies killed in action wearing boom jackets," ISAF front man James Judge said. There was no word on any possible ISAF casualties. US troops make up most of the ISAF force in Paktia and a US-run provincial reconstruction team is based in Gardez. Rohullah Samon, a front man for the Paktia governor, said several armed gunnies and boomers attacked the base. "A boomer driving a car blew himself up at the military gate in an attempt to let other fighters in," Samon said. He said two gunnies were killed and an Afghan security guard and an Afghan soldier were maimed. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban front man, said 10 of the Islamist group's fighters were involved and said some had managed the make it inside the base. The Taliban often make exaggerated or unconfirmed claims about such attacks. In late August, foreign and Afghan troops killed 24 gunnies as they fought off pre-dawn attacks in neighbouring Khost province on the Pakistain border. Violence is at its worst since the Taliban were ousted by US-backed Afghan forces in 2001, with military and civilian casualties at record levels as the Taliban spread the insurgency into once stable areas in the north and west. In the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, a child was killed and 27 civilians maimed when a suicide car bomber attacked a passing ISAF convoy, a front man for the governor of Balkh province said. There was no indication of casualties among the ISAF convoy. |
| Posted by:Fred |