Taliban Insurgents Attack US Aid Offices in Northern Afghanistan
VOA News 02 July 2010
Taliban suicide bombers have killed at least five people, including three foreigners, in an attack on the compound of a USAID contractor in northern Afghanistan.
Afghan officials in the city of Kunduz say one bomber blew up his vehicle at the entrance of the building to allow five other fighters to storm the offices of Development Alternatives Incorporated in the pre-dawn attack Friday.
The victims included an Afghan police officer and an Afghan security guard. Three foreign workers from Germany, Britain and the Philippines were also killed. At least 24 people were wounded.
All of the attackers were killed in a gun-battle with Afghan security forces that lasted more than five hours. Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack and said it was the work of those wanting to impede reconstruction in Afghanistan.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the assault, which came as General David Petraeus arrived in Kabul Friday to take command of some 140,000 U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Petraeus will attend a ceremony at the U.S. embassy on Saturday. He replaces General Stanley McChrystal who resigned amid controversy last week.
The newly-appointed commander has warned violence will increase in Afghanistan in the months ahead.
NATO says two of its service members have been killed in separate insurgent attacks. A soldier was killed in the east on Friday and a British Royal marine was killed Thursday in the south.
And the alliance says at least one Afghan civilian was killed and several others injured Friday in a suicide car bombing near a NATO combat outpost west of the southern city of Kandahar.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday in Portugal that NATO will remain in Afghanistan until Afghans can take control of security.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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