Suicide bomber kills Afghan civilians, foreign troops in Afghanistan

Suicide bomber kills Afghan civilians, foreign troops in Afghanistan

2012-04-04 23:28:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

MAYMANA, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a park in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday morning, killing at least six Afghans and three foreign troops belonging to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), officials said.

The attack happened when an unidentified person riding a motorcycle detonated his explosives at the gate of a park in Maymana, the capital of Faryab province, approximately 420 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Kabul. Deadly attacks in northern Afghanistan are relatively rare when compared to the country's south and east.

A local police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said at least nine people were killed and 29 others were injured in the powerful explosion. Among those killed were believed to be four Afghan civilians, two Afghan police officers, and three ISAF service members.

ISAF confirmed three of its service members were killed in northern Afghanistan, but gave no other details such as the nationalities of the victims. An official at the U.S. Department of Defense said two of those killed were American troops, but the nationality of the third service member was not immediately known.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the bomber as Mullah Abdul Ghafar of Sar-e Pol province. "The attack was carried out by a lion of Islamic Emirate (Taliban) when he detonated his explosives belt in the middle of foreign invaders and their puppets while the enemy troops were on their way to a nearby park," he said.

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