A suicide bombing outside an army base in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killed nine people and injured 28 on Wednesday, raising fears that insurgents are importing ruthless Iraqi-style tactics into Afghanistan.
A motorbike-mounted bomber struck during the evening rush hour, as officers and soldiers waited outside the camp for a bus home. The charred remains of three army buses bore witness to the attack outside the Jalalabad Road training centre on Wednesday night as Nato peacekeepers blocked off the area. Witnesses described a scene of carnage.
”I saw the bodies of badly mutilated soldiers, and buses were on fire,” a soldier, Khalil Muhammad, told The Associated Press.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, which came 10 days after landmark parliamentary elections and just months before British troops are due to significantly increase their commitment in the country.
Iraq has suffered suicide bombings against members of its fledgling army for months, but such attacks were almost unknown in Afghanistan. Afghan officials believe al-Qaeda has renewed its ties with the Taliban.
Suspicions were first aroused last June after a suicide bomb in a mosque in the southern city of Kandahar killed 20 people. Since then, insurgents have intensified roadside attacks on United States and Afghan forces, using increasingly sophisticated, remotely triggered bombs.
In an interview published this week, a Taliban commander boasted he had trained in Iraq for several months and was now bringing his expertise home.
”I want to copy in Afghanistan the tactics and spirit of the glorious Iraqi resistance,” Muhammad Daud told Newsweek.
Hours before Wednesday’s blast, the Afghan intelligence agency, the NDS, told security groups that al-Qaeda had formed a new group, named Fedayani Islam (Sacrifices for Islam), and sent suicide bombers into southern Afghanistan, seeking ”targets of opportunity”.
An aid agency security group, Anso, described the information as ”fairly accurate”.
Afghanistan’s army has been one of the main success stories of the country’s reconstruction since US and Afghan forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001. It has benefited from extensive American training to grow into a force of more than 30 000 soldiers, many drawn from former warring factions. Its troops provided polling-station security during the September 18 parliamentary poll in which 6,8-million of the 12,4-million voters participated.
More than 1 300 people have died in a surge of violence that has mostly affected south and eastern areas during the past seven months. US air strikes claimed most of the casualties. Kabul, considered one of the safest cities, had been largely untouched by the violence until Wednesday night. — Guardian Unlimited Â