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Afghan bases struck

February 24, 2013

Taliban suicide bombers have struck twice in Afghanistan, killing three members of the security forces. A third attack in Kabul's diplomatic enclave was foiled when police shot dead the would-be assailant.

https://p.dw.com/p/17kps
Afghan investigators inspect a suicide bombers' car in Kabul on February 24, 2013. Afghan security forces Sunday shot dead two suspected suicide bombers in a car near a construction site in Kabul's diplomatic enclave, a police official and an AFP photographer said. AFP PHOTO/ SHAH Marai (Photo credit should read SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)
Selbstmordanschlag Kabul Februar 2013Image: SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images

In Sunday's bloodiest attack, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car at the gates of a facility used by Afghanistan’s domestic intelligence agency, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of Kabul. Two agency officers were killed and the building was damaged, according to a regional government spokesman.

“The incident took place this morning at the gate of a National Directorate of Security (NDS), in which two NDS officers were killed and three others were injured in Jalalabad city," provincial spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai told the dpa news agency by telephone. "No civilians were hurt in this attack."

A similar attack took place at Puli Alam, some 70 kilometers southeast of the capital in Logar province. A suicide bomber detonated his device at the gates of a police base, killing one policeman and damaging adjacent homes.

Attack in Kabul

A spokesman for Taliban insurgents, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the attacks in Jalalabad and Puli Alam but denied involvement in the Kabul incident.

Kabul police chief General Ayoub Salangi said the would-be bomber was wearing an explosives-laden vest when he was spotted and shot dead by police. He had tried to drive a vehicle (pictured above) toward an intelligence agency office downtown.

Explosives in his all-terrain vehicle were later defused, said Salangi.

Violence across Afghanistan has increased over the past 12 months, raising questions about whether Afghan security forces will manage once most US-led foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014.

The Taliban have waged an 11-year insurgency against the government of President Hamid Karzai since they were ousted during a US-led invasion in 2001.

ipj/slk (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)