Many dead in huge Afghan explosion

by

Sunday 29 August 2004 2:45 PM GMT

 

The blast is said to have targeted a US security training centre  

Several people, including three American police trainers, have been killed in a powerful blast in the Afghan capital.

The blast was caused by explosive devices in a truck in Kabul's Shar-i-Naw district where dozens of aid agencies are based, according to witnesses.

Aljazeera's correspondent in Kabul, Wali Allah Shahin, said the explosion was thought to have targeted the US Anti-Terrorism centre in Kabul and about 20 people, mostly Afghan guards, were killed in the attack.

He said six US Embassy cars were blown up in the blast on Sunday afternoon.

In a phone message to Aljazeera, Taliban officials claimed their group was behind the attack. They Taliban operative was killed carrying out the attack.

"We received two phone calls from two Taliban spokespersons - Mulla Janan and Mulla Hakim - who claimed the movement's responsibility for the blast and regretted the injuries inflicted on some Afghan people who were accidentally passing by the area," said Aljazeera's Kabul correspondent, Mazin Aman Allah.

Dead bodies

Following the blast, fire and smoke could be seen rising from the area which was cordoned off by Afghan forces.

An interior ministry official said the explosion happened beside the office of the International Organisation for Migration, but did not have any more details.

Residents said they saw several dead bodies lying on the ground as ambulances rushed to the area to transfer injured people to hospitals for treatment.

A police official said another bomb was found near the site of the explosion and security forces were trying to defuse it.

Shahin also reported that an Aljazeera cameraman was beaten up by US troops in the area, although US officials have yet to respond to the allegation.

Aljazeera + Agencies

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Sun 29 Aug 2004

4:49pm (UK)

Six Dead in Security Firm Blast

"PA"

A powerful explosion wrecked an office of an American security house in Kabul today, killing up to six people, officials said.

The blast hit the office of Dyncorp, a private firm which protects Afghan President Hamid Karzai and works for the US government in Iraq, said Nick Downie of the Afghanistan NGO Security Office.

Downie said he and others who rushed to the scene pulled five to six people from the building with serious injuries, including several US citizens.

"We're looking at a similar number who died, a mixture of Afghans and internationals," said Downie, a former British soldier who advises relief groups on security. "Some were obviously Dyncorp staff."

He said the exact nationalities of the victims were unclear.

A US Embassy spokeswoman said she had no information on casualties in the incident.

The blast occurred in the Shar-e Naw district of central Kabul, an area with offices of international organisations and guesthouses used by their staff.

The building was burning fiercely after the explosion. Windows were blown out of surrounding houses.

Residents said a boy living in a neighbouring house and a cobbler whose stall was blown away by the blast were also killed, and up to eight others wounded.

"It was a very, very big explosion, and there were a lot of injured," said Ahmad Emal, a young shopkeeper watching from behind the police cordon.

The charred wreckage of a car was also visible in front of the house. Afghans crowded round what appeared to be the engine block several hundred yards away, suggesting the explosion might have been caused by a car-bomb.

"There was a crater right in front of the office door," Downie said. "There's not much doubt about the target."

Security officials have issued several warnings in recent weeks of possible car-bomb and suicide attacks in the Afghan capital.

NATO forces who patrol the capital have warned that anti-government militants, including the ousted Taliban, could try to mount spectacular attacks in a bid to disrupt upcoming elections.

Officials from the international force could not be reached immediately for comment.

Last night an explosion ripped through a school in south-eastern Afghanistan, killing nine children and one adult, the US military said.

An Afghan official said the blast in Paktia province was caused by a bomb, though the military said it was still unclear.

"There was an explosion, that's all we know," American spokeswoman Master Sgt. Ann Bennett said. "Killed were four children, five teenagers and one adult."

An eight-year-old boy injured in the blast was taken to an American military base for treatment, Bennett said.

Paktia governor Asadullah Wafa said eight children aged seven to 15 were killed and 15 other people injured, three of them critically. It was not clear if two had subsequently died of their wounds.

The American military said it was helping local authorities investigate the explosion, which Bennett said occurred as the children were attending an evening class.

The Mullah Khel school near Zormat, about 80 miles south of the capital, Kabul, was an Islamic school which also taught the more modern syllabus set by the Afghan Education Ministry.

It received funding from an international aid group, Wafa said, something that could conceivably have made it a target for Taliban-led militants.

Blast Hits U.S. Security Firm in Kabul, Killing at Least 7

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS  12:20 PM ET

At least two Americans died in a blast at the office of an American firm that provides security for President Hamid Karzai.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Afghan-Kabul-Explosion.html?hp

* Video: The Scene in Kabul

http://play.rbn.com/?url=ap/nynyt/g2demand/0829kabul_explosion_SS.rm&proto=rtsp&mode=compact

Dyncorp, KBR's rival, brings with it a sordid past from Bosnia.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46818-2004Aug30.html

washingtonpost.com

U.S. Warns Citizens in Afghanistan

Americans Told to Avoid High Profile Locations After Bombing

By Pamela Constable

Washington Post Foreign Service

Monday, August 30, 2004; 2:41 PM

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 30 -- American officials warned all U.S. citizens Monday to avoid high-profile locations and government facilities in the Afghan capital after Sunday's car bombing outside the office of an U.S. security firm here. Officials said the blast killed at least six people, including three Americans.

Spokesmen for the Taliban militia, the armed Islamic extremist group that claimed responsibility for the attack, vowed Monday to step up violence in Kabul and other cities where U.S. military forces and civilian projects are operating.

"We have started our attacks from Kabul under new planning and preparation," Mullah Dadullah, a Taliban leader, told news agencies here via telephone. "We will carry out more attacks and bombings in Kabul, and our [fighters] are present in cities where the occupation forces and infidels are present."

Afghanistan is scheduled to hold its first presidential elections in six weeks, but another Taliban official told news agencies on the phone that all Afghans should "stay away from elections" as well as from places where international military forces are located. "They are our priority targets," he said.

American investigators combed the rubble of the Reston-based DynCorp office in a fashionable Kabul district, while police blocked off the surrounding street to all traffic. In other parts of the city, concrete barricades were erected across streets where other U.S. security and contract employees live or work.

Spokesmen for U.S. and international peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan said three Americans and three Afghans had been killed in the blast. None of the victims was identified, but the Afghans were said to include a cobbler and a small boy.

The bombing was the deadliest terrorist attack in Kabul since Sept. 5, 2002, when a taxi bomb exploded in a crowded city plaza, killing 30 people and wounding scores. Security officials have predicted an increase in terrorist violence -- which has already claimed dozens of lives in recent months -- as the Oct. 9 elections approach.

"We do expect the enemies of Afghanistan, who want to derail the election process, will continue and perhaps increase their activities," said Lt. Cdr. Ken Mackillop, the chief spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force that patrols Kabul. He called Sunday's car bombing "a cowardly act."

There was continuing confusion about the number of casualties. Afghan officials said Sunday that seven people had died, including two Nepalese guards, but foreign military officials said the Nepalis were only wounded. Later Monday, hospital officials said several injured people had died, raising the death toll to at least 10. None of the dead have been publicly identified.

There also was no reliable figure on the number of wounded victims, who were taken to various hospitals. The powerful blast, which occurred during the evening rush hour, engulfed the DynCorp office in flames and shattered windows for several blocks in all directions in the crowded commercial district.

Military spokesmen said the bomb was located inside a car or truck and had been detonated by remote control. They said no one had been arrested in connection with the attack, but that one Afghan had been detained Sunday after he was seen loitering outside the Kabul airport and was found to have traces of explosives on his hands.

Mullah Hakim Latifi, the second purported Taliban spokesman, told news agencies by phone that Taliban forces had "worked for three days to place the bomb" at the site.

The U.S. Embassy sent messages to all U.S. citizens in the country, warning them to avoid "potential target areas" including Internet cafes, fashionable restaurants, crowded markets, military facilities and all government buildings. The United Nations told its foreign staffers to remain off the streets as much as possible.

There are hundreds of Americans and several thousand Westerners working in embassies, international aid agencies, U.N. offices and programs, other foreign projects in Kabul and other Afghan locations. There are also about 5,000 peacekeeping troops in Kabul and about 15,000 U.S. combat forces throughout the country.

DynCorp employs dozens of Americans and other English speakers in Afghanistan. Many are former policemen or soldiers. Their jobs include protecting President Hamid Karzai, training Afghan police and guarding Afghan government workers as they cut down fields of opium poppies.

Military officials provided new details Monday about a second bombing that took place Saturday in a school in the southern province of Paktia, in which they said nine children and one adult were killed. They said they knew of no link between the two attacks.

The officials said explosives appeared to have been planted inside children's school knapsacks while they were on a break from class. They also said the school's principal was missing and may have been kidnapped. The school taught both Islamic and secular subjects and was also the site of a women's education program.

Islamic terrorists have previously targeted schools that taught girls and women. Maj. Scott Nelson, spokesman for U.S. military forces here, said officials in Paktia believe the principal "was abducted for teaching more progressive subjects in the government education curriculum."

Nelson said U.S. military troops with medical training rushed to the site and treated some of the bomb victims, and that others were taken by helicopter to a U.S. military hospital at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

Los Angeles Times

THE WORLD

Foreigners Lie Low in Wake of Kabul Bombing

The U.S. Embassy issues a caution to Americans, and most U.N. workers are kept home. Taliban threatens more attacks in the Afghan capital.

By Hamida Ghafour and Peter Eichstaedt

Special to The Times

August 31, 2004

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan31aug31,1,7524241.story?coll=la-headlines-
world

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The U.S. Embassy warned Americans in the Afghan capital to keep a low profile and the United Nations kept most of its staff home Monday as investigators searched for bodies and clues in the rubble of an American security firm torn apart by a bomb a day earlier.

Members of the Taliban, which claimed responsibility for Sunday's blast, warned in telephone calls to news agencies that they were planning more attacks.

There was confusion Monday over the death toll at DynCorp Inc., which provides bodyguards for President Hamid Karzai and has been involved in training Afghan police. A spokesman for the NATO-led peacekeeping force that patrols the capital said six people had died, but a day earlier Karzai's office put the toll at seven.

DynCorp said three American employees were killed and two -- an Afghan and a Nepalese -- were missing. The slain Americans were identified as John A. Deuley, 36, of Rudy, Ark.; Robert J. Bifano, 57, of Panama City, Fla.; and Gerald W. Gibson, 57, of Bates City, Mo. An American from Virginia was seriously wounded and flown to Germany for treatment.

On Sunday, a Taliban spokesman claimed that the bomb had been placed in a vehicle and detonated by remote control. On Monday, squadron leader Peter Maskell of the peacekeeping force agreed that it had been remotely detonated and said investigators were trying to figure out what kind of explosives had been used.

One explosives expert, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the bomb appeared to have been made by someone with a strong technical knowledge of explosives.

"When you have fertilizer mixed with diesel or gasoline, the effect can be haphazard and the boom of the explosion is slower and longer," he said. "The explosion on Sunday was very quick and lasted a few seconds. That kind of a sound makes me think it was a bomb that would be used by a military in, for example, grenades, to ensure maximum impact on detonation. The hard force of the explosion also increases the amount of shrapnel flying in the air. This was a very carefully planned attack to ensure as many people as possible were hurt."

In the wake of the blast, Nick Downie, security coordinator for ANSO, a nonprofit agency that advises foreign aid groups in Afghanistan on security, said his group expected "possibly a series and a campaign of attacks."

A spokesman for the Taliban, Mullah Abdul Hakim Latifi, warned that more bombings were in store as the nation prepared for its Oct. 9 presidential election.

"We appeal to civilians to stay away from the elections and places where the Americans and [U.S.-led] coalition [forces] are living and working," he told Associated Press. "They are our priority targets."

Sunday's bombing was the deadliest attack in Kabul since September 2002, when at least two dozen people were killed in twin blasts near the Ministry of Information and Culture.

On Monday, all U.N. offices were closed, with only essential staff working. The U.S. Embassy e-mailed Americans, cautioning them to limit their movements and avoid bazaars, restaurants, government offices and military facilities.

At the blast site, investigators picked through debris in and around the charred hulks of half a dozen vehicles.

Twenty yards away, Mirwais Mirzad, 30, owner of a plumbing fixtures business, looked on in dismay as workers repaired the windows of his store.

"I think everything is finished," said Mirzad, who had run a business in Pakistan in recent years and returned to Kabul because the situation had improved. Now he is not so sure. "If it gets bad, I may have to close."

Across the street, Rasoul Rouan, owner of a motorcycle shop, rejected the idea that the bombing was a political statement directed at Karzai.

"It is not against Karzai," he said. "It is against the people of Afghanistan. They don't want people to live in peace. If they only wanted Karzai, they would get him."

Mohammed Karim, who has sold sporting goods for 41 years in a shop a block from the blast site, said his store was full of customers when the bomb exploded. They fell to the floor to avoid flying glass.

"We were very afraid," he said. Karim said the attack was clearly connected to the election. But he doubted such bombings would prevent people from voting. "It cannot stop the election," he said.

At Ali Abad Hospital, 14-year-old Seraia Hamidi received a steady stream of relatives wishing her well. She had been washing grapes in her family's house near the DynCorp office when the bomb exploded, knocking her down, her mother said.

"I am very sad," said Shala Hamidi, a medical school instructor. "My house is very damaged. My daughter is hurt.... I wish the foreign people would change their location. It's a residential place, not a military post."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Times staff writer Jube Shiver Jr. in Washington contributed to this report.

Afghan Judge Arrested for Kabul Bombing

Sat Jan 8, 2:49 AM ET   World - Reuters

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan security forces have detained a supreme court judge suspected of being involved in an August car bomb attack that killed 10 people, including three Americans, in the capital Kabul, a court official said on Saturday.

AP Photo  

 Slideshow: Afghanistan

The attack targeted offices used by the private U.S. security firm DynCorp, which provides protection to President Hamid Karzai and gives anti-narcotics training to Afghan police.

A supreme court official said the arrest of Judge Naqibullah followed the interrogation of two al Qaeda members detained this month for the bombing.

"The security forces several days ago arrested Naqibullah as an accused over the bombing incident," Wahid Mozhda, a spokesman for the supreme court, told Reuters.

"They said the other two suspects had also said that they had spent a night at Naqibullah's house in Kabul."

Naqibullah also served as the head of the preliminary court of a district of Panj Sher province to the northeast of the capital, the official said.

He belonged to a faction of the Mujahideen, or holy warriors, which fought the 1980s Soviet occupation and then the Taliban from the late 1990s, helping U.S.-led forces topple them in 2001.

Security forces said they discovered explosives during a raid on Naqibullah's house, Mozhda said.

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