KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide car bomber attacked a health clinic in eastern Afghanistan as women and children lined up for maternity care and vaccinations, killing at least 35 people in one of the deadliest attacks against civilians this year. The sport utility vehicle smashed through a wall at the Akbarkhail Public Medical Center on Saturday before anyone could shoot the driver or blow out the tires, local officials said. The force of the blast caused the building to collapse.Survivors frantically dug through the rubble with shovels and bare hands. At least 53 other people were wounded, provincial public health director Dr. Mohammad Zaref Nayebkhail said.
'They were offering important services for the people. We had very good services and lots of patients. There were only 10 beds but lots of other services in that centre. It's why the casualties were so high,' he said.
Wary of being blamed for civilian casualties, the Taleban denied it was behind the bombing in Azra district in Logar province. 'This attack was not done by our fighters,' Taleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
| Of course. It was done by your jacket wallahs, which is a separate division. |