Afghan Suicide Bomber kills 12 at Police Station in Uruzgan

Correspondent (Asia- South)

In the Southern province of Uruzgan in Afghanistan, a suicide bomber blew himself up and killed at least 12 people and injured five others.”He detonated his explosives in a battalion station in Tirin Kot, the provincial capital of Uruzgan,” said Abdullah Hemat, Uruzgan governor’s spokesman.

The 12 police officers killed were having lunch when the attack occurred, while some of the five people injured were reportedly friends and relatives of the police officers. The suicide bomber managed to enter the dining hall, as he was dressed in a police uniform.

The attack happened not too long after NATO gave security responsibility to local Afghan forces. Taliban — a fundamentalist Muslim movement whose militia took control over most of Afghanistan early 1995 — is known to often target Afghan forces/police. They have taken responsibility for the attack and spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has said, “In the holy month of Ramadan, jihad has a big reward, and we will continue our war against the enemy by continuing our attacks.”

A similar story occurred on the same day in the province of Kandahar, where a suicide bomber set the bomb off on a border checkpoint between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It resulted in at least two people being killed and around eight people being injured.

Image Courtesy: FreedomHouse (http://www.flickr.com/photos/syriafreedom/6814009812/sizes/o/in/photostream/)span>