URUZGAN: At least 12 policemen were killed after a bomber detonated his explosives-packed vest in an officers’ dining hall in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan Province.
The deadly attack, which claimed 12 lives, took place on Friday at lunch time when the hall was packed with policemen.
The bomber “detonated his explosives in a battalion station in Tirin Kot, the provincial capital,” said Abdullah Hemat, the Uruzgan governor’s spokesman.
Afghan police have stationed their forces in a base in the central province of Uruzgan to secure the main highway to Kandahar Province in the south.
Investigation was underway to determine how the assailant passed three checkpoints into the dining hall.
Earlier in the day, in the southern province of Kandahar, another bomber attacked a checkpoint at the border with Pakistan, killing at least two people.
No group has claimed responsibility for either of the attacks. Afghan officials have blamed Taliban militants for similar bombings.
Improvised explosive devices are by far the most lethal weapons Taliban militants use against Afghan forces, foreign troops, and civilians.
Attacks on foreign troops are expected to rise in the next months, as Taliban militants have announced the beginning of their ‘offensive’ across Afghanistan.
The announcement prompted the Afghan authorities to tighten security in major cities across the country, including the capital Kabul.
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.
The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country, despite the presence of thousands of US-led troops.
