U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan's spying service helped plan the suicide bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul this month, The New York Times reported on Thursday. U.S. government officials told the newspaper that communications had been intercepted between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the July 7 attack that killed 54 people. The newspaper said it was the clearest evidence to date that Pakistani intelligence officers were actively undermining U.S. efforts to combat militants in the region. The unidentified U.S. officials also said new information showed that members of Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, were increasingly providing militants with details about the U.S. campaign against them, allowing them to avoid missile strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas. The ISI has maintained ties to militant groups in the tribal areas, in part, to contain Afghanistan's power, the paper … [Read more...] about Pakistani spies aided Kabul suicide attack: report
Afghanistan suicide attack
Afghan MP among 19 killed in suicide attack
A suicide bomber attacked a funeral in northeastern Afghanistan on Sunday killing at least 19 people including an MP and wounding dozens of others, officials said. The attacker detonated his vest after mourners gathered for the funeral of a government official in Taluqan city, the capital of Takhar province. "We have 19 dead including an MP, Abdulmutalib Baig, and about 40 wounded, mostly civilians," said Takhar provincial governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa. "I was also invited to this ceremony but I didn't go. The target was either me or the MP." Baig was a former Mujahedeen commander and the former police chief of Kunduz province, he added. Provincial police chief General Khair Mohammad Temor, who confirmed the death toll and number of wounded, said no women were among the dead. "A suicide attacker wearing a suicide vest attacked the funeral procession," he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility and the Taliban, who are leading a 10-year insurgency … [Read more...] about Afghan MP among 19 killed in suicide attack
Twin suicide attacks kill 6, wound 33 in a single day
Two suicide bombings rocked Afghanistan's eastern Laghman province, claiming the lives of six people including two attackers and wounding 33 others in a single day on Saturday, officials confirmed. In the first attack carried out in the shape of bicycle bombing, according to a statement released by the Interior Ministry here, three civilians were killed and 25 others sustained injuries. "A suicide bomber riding a bicycle blew himself up in front of the provincial public health department in the provincial capital Mehterlam city this morning killing three people including a woman and a child and injuring 25 others, all civilians," a governmental statement said. In the second attack, happened in a span of 15 minutes, a suicide bomber strapped explosive device in his body detonated himself, killing one civilian and wounding eight others, the statement further said. Both the suicide bombers were also killed in the blasts, it confirmed. Meantime, a Taliban spokesman Zabihullah … [Read more...] about Twin suicide attacks kill 6, wound 33 in a single day
Suicide attack in Kabul, 10 dead: officials
KABUL - (VNS) A suicide bomber killed at least 10 people, nine of them foreigners, in an early-morning attack on a highway leading to the international airport in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, officials said. It was the second suicide strike in the heavily fortified city in 10 days, renewing questions about stability as NATO accelerates a troop withdrawal and hands over to Afghan forces by the end of 2014. An AFP photographer saw at least six bodies lying among the wreckage of a gutted minivan, and another vehicle destroyed by flames still burning in the middle of the highway, with debris flung all around. An Afghan and a Western security official confirmed that nine foreigners were killed in the attack, which police confirmed was a suicide car bomb. "The foreigners were from a private company working at the airport," the Afghan official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. He said an Afghan was also among the … [Read more...] about Suicide attack in Kabul, 10 dead: officials
Five dead as Kabul suicide attack foiled
Five insurgents planning a suicide attack in Kabul were killed in a pre-dawn gunbattle in the capital, an Afghan security official said Thursday. Photo: AFP Fighting raged for six hours after Afghan forces raided a house in the east of the city where the men were holed up, National Directorate of Security spokesman Lutfullah Mashal told AFP. "A group of insurgents armed with suicide vests, rockets and machine guns planned to seize a tall building in Kabul's (central) Shar-i-Naw area," Mashal said. Acting on intelligence, security forces raided a house in the eastern Pul-e-Charkhi neighbourhood and a gunfight erupted after the gunmen refused to surrender, he said. "The gunfight lasted for six hours and a total of five insurgents were killed. One of them detonated his suicide vest," Mashal said, adding that security forces had earlier believed there were seven members of the suicide squad. Mashal said a mini-van full of explosives had also been found at the house and efforts … [Read more...] about Five dead as Kabul suicide attack foiled