The United States ambassador fled a central Afghan town after a Taliban suicide bomber killed 10 people and wounded 50, further stoking fears of an Iraqi influence on the escalating insurgency.
Ronald E Neumann was not hurt when a man exploded a landmine strapped to his body about one and a half kilometres from the governor’s office in Tirin Kot, capital of Uruzgan province.
American bodyguards bundled him into a small room for 15 minutes before whisking him away, said the deputy governor, Abdul Aziz. The provincial police chief was critically wounded in the attack.
A purported Taliban spokesperson, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, named a local Talib, Abdul Rahim, as the attacker. ”Our intention was to kill the US ambassador,” he told Reuters by satellite phone.
Neumann, whose schedule is kept secret for security reasons, was in Tirin Kot to visit the US military base and confer with provincial officials, said the embassy spokesperson, Lou Fintor.
The attack is the latest in a surge of suicide bomb attacks in the insurgent-infested central and southern provinces. It comes just months before a British-led Nato mission assumes control from a shrinking American contingent.
More than 30 people have died in 12 suicide bombings in the past three months amid reports of a link with the Iraqi insurgency, possibly through returned Afghan fighters.
Many of the early suicide attacks were ineffective but they are becoming more sophisticated. A bombing in Kabul in November killed a German peacekeeper; last month the Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah, said more than 200 insurgents were ready to blow themselves up.
The extent of involvement of foreign forces is unclear. Afghan officials speculate that conservative Saudis are financing the attacks. The role of neighbouring Pakistan remains controversial.
Afghan and western intelligence officials believe the Taliban leadership is sheltering in the Pakistani tribal areas. On Thursday morning Afghan security forces in the border town of Spin Boldak blew up a vehicle packed with explosives which they claimed had crossed from Pakistan.
The controversy has highlighted strains in US policy. Although more than 50 US soldiers have died in the past year, American diplomats in Pakistan offer apparently unconditional support to President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in the hunt for al-Qaeda suspects.
The Pentagon plans to cut American troop levels from 19 000 to about 16 500 as the Nato deployment takes hold in the south this spring.
But the British-led mission has become mired in uncertainty. France, Spain and Germany have balked at sending soldiers to the troubled south. The Netherlands has been slow to commit 1 100 troops to Uruzgan province.
Few details of the British deployment to Helmand province — reportedly up to 3 500 soldiers, including a paratroop unit — have been confirmed. The role of British troops in tackling the drugs trade and pursuing the Taliban are likely to be debated in parliament this month.
Only Canada has committed. More than 1 000 troops have arrived in Kandahar, with another 1 000 due next month. – Guardian Unlimited Â