The Patriot Files Forums  

Go Back   The Patriot Files Forums > Military News > Afghanistan

Post New Thread  Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 03-06-2019, 06:11 AM
Boats's Avatar
Boats Boats is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sauk Village, IL
Posts: 21,784
Arrow Suicide blast in eastern Afghanistan kills at least 17

Suicide blast in eastern Afghanistan kills at least 17
By: Rahim Faiez / Associated Press / 3-6-19
RE: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/s...ls-at-least-17

KABUL, Afghanistan — Militants in Afghanistan set off a suicide blast on Wednesday morning and stormed a construction company near the airport in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, killing at least 17 people, officials said.

The dawn assault triggered an hours-long gunbattle with local guards, drawing in U.S. forces to assist the Afghan troops in the shootout.

Among those killed were 16 employees of the Afghan construction company EBE and a military intelligence officer, said Attahullah Khogyani, the provincial governor’s spokesman. He added that nine other people were wounded in the attack, which lasted more than five hours.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but both the Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially in Nangarhar.

The two groups have been carrying out near-daily attacks across Afghanistan in recent years, mainly targeting the government and Afghan security forces and causing staggering casualties, including among civilians. The attacks have continued despite stepped-up U.S. efforts to find a negotiated resolution of the 17-year war, America’s longest.

Wednesday’s attack began around 5 a.m. and five attackers were involved, Khogyani said. Two of them detonated their explosives, blowing themselves up, while the remaining three were killed in the shooting.

The attackers were on foot and after setting off a suicide blast at the company gates, the others stormed in, triggering a gunbattle that drew U.S. forces to the scene, according to Gen. Ghulam Sanayee Stanikzai, the provincial police chief.

“U.S. forces are supporting Afghan forces in securing the area now,” Stanikzai later said.

As the attack unfolded, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani arrived for a visit to neighboring Kunar province to inaugurate an administrative health complex and to lay the cornerstone of a 200-bed hospital.

By 10:30 a.m., when the last of the attackers was killed, all was over and the Afghan forces proceeded with a clean-up operation, Khogyani said.

The attack was the second high-profile assault in the past six days. Over the weekend, the Taliban targeted an Afghan army unit at its camp in southern Helmand province, killing at least 23 troops and wounding more than 20 others. That attack began on Friday and ended on Saturday evening, 40 hours later.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Helmand attack, which came even as insurgents were meeting with a U.S. peace envoy in Qatar, a Gulf Arab country, for peace talks.

About the writer: Associated Press writer Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.
__________________
Boats

O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 01:54 PM.


Powered by vBulletin, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.