Suicide, gun attacks kill 71 in Afghanistan

GARDEZ - Agence France-Presse

Two separate suicide and gun attacks on police and soldiers in Afghanistan left at least 71 dead and nearly 170 wounded on Oct. 17 in the latest devastating assaults on beleaguered security forces.

The Taliban claimed the more deadly of the two assaults, a coordinated attack on police in the southeast city of Gardez in Paktia province.

That assault killed 41 people and injured 158, according to the interior ministry, and left hospital officials calling for blood donations.

A separate ambush blamed on the Taliban in the neighbouring province of Ghazni killed 25 security officials and five civilians with 10 wounded, the interior ministry said.

The first attack, claimed by the Taliban in a tweet, began when two suicide bombers driving an explosives-laden truck and a Humvee blew them up near the training centre, which is close to the Paktia police headquarters.

The second attack, in Ghazni some 100 kilometres west of Gardez, followed a similar pattern involving insurgents detonating an explosives-laden Humvee near a police headquarters then storming the building, Haref Noori, the Ghazni governor's spokesman, told AFP.

"Dozens of Taliban" were killed in the attack, Ghazni police chief Mohammad Zaman said.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attacks and praised the "bravery and sacrifice" of security forces.