AFGHANSITAN: Suicide bomber kills one police officer and wounds a civilian in Herat

One police officer was killed and a civilian wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up near a police convoy on the outskirts of Herat on Tuesday (November 28), according to the provincial police chief. Police were suspicious and stopped the bomber for questioning; upon which he detonated the bomb. Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest period since U.S.-led coalition forces overthrew the Taliban's radical Islamic government in 2001. The violence has seriously hampered development and reconstruction, raised fears the Taliban are gaining support in the countryside, and reinforced perceptions President Hamid Karzai has little control outside Kabul. A suicide attack killed two NATO soldiers in Kandahar on Monday (November 27) and another suicide attack on Sunday (November 26) killed 15 Afghans in a restaurant in south-eastern Paktika province, many of them from a militia hired by the U.S. military, according to the provincial governor. The Taliban and their Islamic allies stepped up a suicide attack campaign a year ago as the insurgency gathered fresh momentum, despite U.S. military comments it was on its last legs. So far this year, about 3,800 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence, including scores killed in suicide attacks and in operations by foreign forces across the country.

ITN Source | November 29, 2006