Afghan Police: Bomb Kills 12 in Herat
By VOA News
03 August 2009
Afghan police say a roadside bomb killed 12 people and injured some 30 others in the western city of Herat Monday.
Officials say the bomb was hidden in a trash can and detonated by remote control as a police convoy passed on a crowded street.
A Taliban spokesman says the target of the attack was the police chief of the nearby Injil district, who was seriously hurt. Two other police officers were killed, along with a woman and young girl.
Taliban militants have increased their attacks across Afghanistan as the country prepares for presidential and local elections on August 20.
The new chief of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said Monday in Brussels that the alliance needs more international help in Afghanistan to prevent it from - in his words - "becoming again the grand central station of international terrorism."
He said NATO will do its part but cannot do it alone. He called for an international team effort, including more support from the Afghans themselves.
On Sunday, the top U.N. envoy in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, called for peace talks with top Taliban leadership to end the country's conflict.
The Taliban's leader Mullah Omar. has rejected offers for dialogue, saying no talks can take place until all foreign troops are out of the country.
At least nine coalition troops (six Americans, two Canadians and one French) were killed in the first two days of August, while militants also have stepped up attacks on election candidates and their staff ahead of the election.
July was the deadliest month for international forces since the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, with at least 75 coalition troops killed, mostly in the south and the east of the country.
Thousands of U.S., British and Afghan forces are focused on bringing security to the volatile south ahead of the presidential election.
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