Suicide Bomber Kills 8 in Eastern Afghanistan
VOA News 07 January 2010
An Afghan official says at least eight people have been killed after a suicide bomber detonated explosives in the eastern town of Gardez.
A Paktia provincial governor's spokesman, Rohulla Samoon, says at least 24 people were wounded in Thursday's attack that apparently targeted a security vehicle convoy. The spokesman says a security personnel supervisor is among those killed.
In a Thursday statement, a NATO officer, Brigadier General Luigi Scollo, condemned the attack, saying "insurgents" had again proven they are "the enemy of the Afghan people."
Earlier Thursday, an explosion ripped through the office of an Afghan provincial governor, wounding him and several other senior officials.
Afghan officials say the bomb was hidden in trash just outside the office of acting Khost governor Tahir Khan Sabri. They said the blast sprayed him with broken glass.
Also in Khost Thursday, Afghan security forces said they killed two would-be suicide bombers.
Khost borders Pakistan's tribal region, an area that is a stronghold for Taliban and al-Qaida militants.
On Wednesday, an explosion at a market in Khost wounded at least nine people. And just over a week ago, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a U.S. base near the city, killing seven intelligence officers.
Meanwhile, hundreds of demonstrators chanted anti-U.S. slogans and burned an effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday in the eastern city of Jalalabad. The demonstrators blame U.S. soldiers for a Wednesday roadside bombing near the city that killed four Afghan children and a policeman.
At least 80 other people were wounded in the blast. Afghan officials say the explosion occurred when a convoy vehicle hit an explosive device.
Elsewhere Thursday, several U.S. lawmakers visited the Afghan capital, including former presidential candidate Senator John McCain, of the U.S. state of Arizona.
McCain voiced his support of the U.S. military strategy in the region, including the use of drones to target militants.
He called the use of drones effective, saying they have knocked al-Qaida and other Islamic extremist groups "off-balance."
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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