Suicide attack kills 6 civilians in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Agence France-Presse

Afghan policemen are seen at the site of an explosion in Kandahar. AP photo

A suicide attack killed at least six people yesterday at Kandahar international airport in southern Afghanistan, police said.

“Six civilians were killed in a suicide attack close to the gates of Kanadahar airport today,” said Kandahar police chief General Abdul Razeq. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

In neighboring Helmand province on Jan. 18, two attacks just hours apart killed 16 people and wounded more than 20 others. A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed 10 civilians and two policemen in the first attack at a bazaar, while an intelligence official was among the dead in a second blast caused by a mine, which was claimed by the Taliban.

General John Allen, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said that those attacks showed that “(Taliban leader) Mullah Omar has lost all control over Taliban insurgents.” “Otherwise he would immediately denounce these attacks and order his ‘forces’ to stop attacking innocent Afghan civilians,” Allen said.