Incident

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Incident

Suicide Attack at Afghan Army Center Kills 36

15 March 2011 01:39 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. A Taliban suicide bomber struck an army recruiting office in northern Afghanistan Monday, killing at least 36 people, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

Authorities say at least 42 others were wounded in the attack in the city of Kunduz. Victims included soldiers, civilians and volunteers who wanted to join the army. Officials say children were also among those killed.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing.

Monday’s attack was the second on the center in the last year. Eight security personnel were killed when militants stormed the recruiting compound in December.

Violence has increased in Kunduz province. Last week, the provincial police chief, Abdul Rahman Sayedkhili, was killed in a suicide blast while on patrol in Kunduz city.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned Monday’s attack on the army center â€œin the strongest terms.â€ He said militants do not want to see an Afghan force â€œdevelop and grow capable of protectingâ€ the nation.

NATO and the U.S. Embassy in Kabul also condemned the attack and offered condolences. In a statement, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said â€œenemies of Afghanistan are threatenedâ€ by a strong Afghan army and have therefore struck those working to secure the country’s future.

U.S. and NATO forces are training and building up Afghan forces in order to begin transferring security responsibility in the coming months. Most coalition combat troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

In other violence Monday, Afghan officials say a roadside bomb killed three people in the southern province of Zabul.

A separate bomb blast killed at least one person in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

And NATO says several insurgents were killed Monday in the southern province of Helmand, after coalition forces retaliated against insurgent gunfire in the Reg-e Khan Neshin district.