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Afghanistan | ||||
Nine killed, 26 wounded in Kandahar blasts | ||||
2010-10-07 | ||||
[Dawn] Two kabooms killed nine people and maimed two dozen others in quiet Kandahar, the second day of deadly blasts in the southern Afghan city where Taliban Orcs and similar vermin are fighting back against US and Afghan forces pushing into areas long held by hard boys. A car bomb and a second, smaller blast killed nine people Tuesday, including one Afghan policeman, quiet Kandahar provincial health director Qayum Pokhla said. Police officers were also among the 26 people maimed. Three kabooms just minutes apart killed three Afghan police officers in the city Monday night. When police gathered to tend to the maimed after the first blast, two more kabooms occurred, said Zelmai Ayubi, front man for the provincial governor of quiet Kandahar. Noor Ahman, deputy mayor in quiet Kandahar, was killed in an hard boy attack Monday and later in the day Habibullah Aghonzada, a former district chief in Arghistan, was bumped off by assailants as he prayed at a packed mosque. Nato described the two as ''dedicated public servants who sought to improve the lives of their fellow countrymen.'' The military alliance announced Tuesday an hard boy involved in the kidnapping of a New York Times news hound was captured in northern Afghanistan. The unidentified bad boy was apprehended by Afghan and coalition security forces in Takhar province overnight Monday, a statement said. The hard boy was linked to senior Taliban and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leaders in northern Afghanistan and Pakistain, Nato said. He ''terrorized the local populace,'' and targeted police and local officials in attacks, it said. Journalist Stephen Farrell and his translator were taken hostage in September 2009 when they went to cover a Nato air strike of two hijacked fuel tankers that killed scores of Afghan civilians. British commandos rescued Farrell in a raid, but the translator and a British commando were killed in the operation. Separately, Nato reported Tuesday a service member died in a homemade bomb kaboom in the south. The coalition did not disclose the nationality or provide additional details of the death. Control of quiet Kandahar, the Taliban movement's birthplace, is seen as key to reversing Taliban momentum in the war. Afghan and Nato forces are engaged in a major operation to improve security in and around quiet Kandahar to keep Orcs and similar vermin from staging attacks inside the city. Early Tuesday in Arghandab district outside quiet Kandahar, Nato said it captured a Taliban leader suspected of coordinating attacks and arming Taliban fighters.
''America is operating in the districts of quiet Kandahar, but the result will be that they will walk out with blood-filled, empty hands,'' Taliban front man Qari Yousef said. ''They could not achieve victory in nearly a decade. This shows they never will.''
''When only the Taliban were ruling our land there was peace and tranquility. Since the Americans have set foot on our land, we don't have work and our health is no better,'' said Naseebullah Ghamjam, a 38-year-old laborer. ''All we have seen is that Americans have constructed exceptionally massive compounds for themselves.''
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Posted by:Fred |