KABUL, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- In the latest waves of violent security incidents in the militancy-plagued Afghanistan, two suicide bombings rocked Sayidabad district in Wardak province with Maidan Shar its capital 30 km west of Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, leaving 14 people including two attackers dead and injuring 69 others.
The bloody attacks took place at 06:15 a.m. local time near the gate of the district headquarters and next to the police department, damaging several shops and houses around, the Wardak provincial administration said in a statement released to media outlets.
"Eight civilians and four policemen were martyred in the double suicide bombings," the statement added.
Those received injuries in the deadly bombings include 47 civilians, seven police personnel, three personnel of intelligence agency and two soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), according to the statement.
Taliban militants, according to eye witnesses, first detonated one of the suicide bombers and when the people gathered to rescue the victims, the second blast happened adding to the number of casualties.
Both the suicide bombers were also killed in the blasts, spokesman for Wardak's provincial administration Shahidullah Shahid told Xinhua.
Meantime, Zabihullah Mujahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in talks with media outlets via telephone from unknown location said that two Taliban fighters carried out the deadly double suicide bombings against the joint base of Afghan and U.S. forces, inflicting huge casualties to both Afghan and NATO-led troops.
Mujahid also insisted that one of the suicide bombers walked at the gate of the district headquarters which is next to the U.S. military base and blew himself up; while another one driving an explosive-laden vehicle blew it up, killing dozens of Afghans and foreign troops.
However, the statement of the Wardak provincial administration rebuffed the Taliban claim, saying only two soldiers with NATO-led ISAF sustained injuries and the vast majority of the victims are innocent non-combatants who visited the district headquarters to solve their problems, or visited bazaar for daily shopping or are locals living around.
The Taliban insurgents, who have been waging more than a decade- long insurgency, launched their annual spring offensive from May 3 this year to target Afghan forces as well as U.S. and NATO troops across the country.
It has merit to mention that a Taliban-led suicide truck bomb targeted the foreign forces military base in Sayidabad district, injuring 77 U.S. soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Sept. 10 last year.
KUDNUZ, Afghanistan, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Police have arrested a Taliban key commander in Kunduz province 250 km north of Afghan capital Kabul, provincial police chief Samiullah Qatra said Saturday.
"Security forces during a special operation arrested Taliban key commander Qari Ahsanullah alias Mullah Niaz Mohammad and today he is in our custody," Qatra told journalists at a press conference here. Full story
KABUL, Sept. 1 (Xinhua)-- Anti-government militants attack claimed the lives of two U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan on Saturday, the U.S. Forces confirmed in a statement released here.
"Two U.S. Forces-Afghanistan service members died following an insurgent attack in Ghazni province, Afghanistan today," the statement said. Full story
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