Afghan Official Says Violence at Highest Level Since 2001
By VOA News
14 October 2008
Afghanistan's defense minister says violence in his country is at its highest level since 2001, in part because terrorists are being diverted from Iraq.
Abdul Rahim Wardak says security gains in Iraq are prompting foreign fighters to head to Afghanistan.
He added that militants are more coordinated, better trained and better equipped than in past years.
In violence Tuesday, two gunmen on a motorbike killed a senior official in Kandahar province.
The head of the provincial labor and social affairs department, Dost Mohammad Arghestani, and his bodyguard were shot on their way to work.
Earlier in the day, Afghan authorities said nine people, including two children, were killed by a roadside bomb that hit a small bus in the southern province of Uruzgan.
Police say the bomb was apparently intended for NATO troops.
Also Tuesday, NATO said three of its soldiers were killed when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan.
The U.S. military said a soldier with the U.S.-led coalition was also killed in southern Afghanistan.
The military says the soldier was riding in a vehicle that hit an improvised explosive device Monday. Several other soldiers in the vehicle were wounded.
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