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43 killed, scores injured in deadly attacks across Afghanistan

15 August 2012 04:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least 43 people were killed and more than 60 injured in multiple bomb attacks in various parts of Afghanistan, officials said, making Tuesday one of the most violent days in the country this year, APA reports.

At least 29 people were killed and more than 50 injured in three simultaneous suicide bombings in western Afghanistan.

"According to latest report of causalities, 25 civilians and four security forces were killed in todayâ€™s cowardice suicide bombings in (the provincial capital) Zaranj city, "Abdul Majid Latifi, deputy police chief of Nimroz province, told dpa.

"Fifty other civilians and six members of the security forces were injured and taken to the hospital," he said.

Latifi said the attacks involved a cell of at least 11 suicide bombers. But many were stopped before they could act.

"In total, 11 suicide bombers and attackers had tried to attack several locations in the city. Three of the bombers blew themselves up. Three others were shot dead by the police before they could do so," Latifi said.

"Five others were arrested by the police."

Afghans shopping in a busy market for the Eid al-Fitr festival that follows Ramadan were targeted, an official said.

"People were shopping for the upcoming Eid festival when the bombers detonated their explosives-laden vests in a bazaar next to a governmental hospital," Seddiq Shamshuddin, a provincial council member, told dpa.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack. But the Taliban have been increasingly targeting civilian hangouts in recent weeks.

Relatively peaceful Nimroz province borders with Iran and has not seen much violence.

Because of their better security, it was one of the first provinces to be handed over completely to Afghan security forces by the NATO-led coalition.

There are no foreign troops in the whole province of Nimroz, an official with the military coalition told dpa.

The attack is one of the most brazen this year. Officials say there were no military or government targets in the market place.

NATO-led international forces have said that the attacks by the Taliban have increased by 11 per cent in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year.

In the past few weeks, there have been a spate of violence all over the country, despite the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Meanwhile, a bomb hidden in a motorcycle detonated in a busy market on Tuesday in northern Afghanistan, killing 10 civilians and wounding 28, an official said.

The bomb went off in the market in Dasht-e-Archi district in the province of Kunduz just before evening prayers, as people were shopping at the end of their Ramadan fast, district governor Shikh Sadrudin said.

He said several others were injured.

Elsewhere, a district governor and three border policemen were killed in a militant ambush in the northern province of Badakshan, the provincial governor spokesman said.

"Saifullah Seddiqi, the governor for Sheghnan district, was traveling to Faizabad city, the provincial capital, along with four border police when they faced militantsâ€™ ambush in Baharak district, in which he and three policemen were killed and one was injured," Abdul Maroof Rasekh told dpa.

The Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the attack.

Last week, a United Nations report said targeted assassinations of government and security officials increased by 53 percent in the first six months of 2012, compared to the same period last year.