Afghan official: 6 civilians die in bomb attack

Thursday, January 19, 2012

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan –  An attacker blew himself up Thursday at an entrance to a sprawling base for U.S. and NATO operations in southern Afghanistan, killing at least six civilians, police said.

It was the second suicide bombing in as many days in southern Afghanistan, which is the birthplace of the Taliban insurgency.

"He arrived on foot and tried to get near the gate of Kandahar Air Field and then he blew himself up," said Abdul Razaq, police chief in Kandahar province.

The incident was confirmed by Gen. Mohammad Hameed, head of the Afghan National Army in the province, who said other civilians were wounded in the blast.

On Wednesday, dozens of civilians, coalition troops and Afghan security forces were killed and wounded when an attacker blew himself up in a bazaar in neighboring Helmand province. Daud Ahmadi, a provincial spokesman, said a bomber on a motorcycle killed at least 12 Afghans, including two policeman, and wounded at least 23 other people in Kajaki district.

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Afghan official: 3 killed in helicopter crash

Monday, January 16, 2012

KABUL, Afghanistan –  A civilian helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing all three people on board, an Afghan official said.

Marjan Haqmal, police chief of Nad Ali district in Helmand province, said the Russian-made aircraft probably went down because of a technical malfunction.

NATO confirmed that a civilian helicopter crashed Monday in southern Afghanistan. It said the site of the crash has been secured and that coalition forces are trying to gather more information about what happened.

The alliance did not provide information about casualties.

Dozens of Russian-built cargo helicopters are used by contractors working for the NATO-led coalition.

The coalition relies heavily on helicopters or airdrops to deliver food and other supplies to remote outposts in order to avoid using roads that are frequently mined by the insurgents. Transport aircraft are also frequently used for airdrops to isolated bases.

The Taliban have few dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, but they have damaged or destroyed dozens of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft using automatic rifles and other infantry weapons. In August, militants shot down a U.S. Chinook transport helicopter, killing 30 U.S. special operation troops, a translator and seven Afghan commandos.

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