A suicide bomber killed more than 37 Afghans,
including children, in an attack today at an Afghan Army
recruiting center in the northern province of Kunduz. The Taliban
claimed the attack, which is the latest suicide bombing in the
northern province. The Taliban suicide bomber detonated a bomb
that was placed on a bicycle at the Army recruitment center in
Kunduz City, the provincial capital. "The death toll includes new
recruits, army soldiers and civilians," the deputy governor of
Kunduz told Reuters , which put the death toll at 37. The
International Security Assistance Force said four children were
among those killed. Scores more were wounded. The Taliban claimed
the attack in a statement released on their website, Voice of
Jihad, but said all of those killed were soldiers and government
workers. "As many as 31 puppets including Afghan soldiers and
officers were killed and 34 more were badly wounded in a
martyrdom operation conducted by Saifullah, a loin of Islamic
Emirate of Afghanistan in Kunduz city," the statement read. The attack is the third major strike in Kunduz, and the latest
in a string of suicide bombings targeting government officials
and security forces. Just five days ago, the Taliban killedGeneral Abdul Rahman Sayedkhili, the provincial chief of police,
and four of his bodyguards in a suicide attack at a bazaar in
Kunduz City. On Feb. 21, a Taliban suicide bomber killed 32
people in an attack on the provincial branch of the national
statistics department in the district of Imam Sahib. The Afghan
civilians were waiting for ID cards. Several women and children
were killed in the blast. On Feb. 10, a suicide bomber killed the
district governor of Chardara and six other people. The district
is a known haven for the Taliban and an allied group, the al
Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. On Oct. 8, 2010, a
Taliban suicide bomber killed Governor Muhammad Omaras he worshiped in a mosque in neighboring Takhar province. Omar
had been vocal in his opposition to the Taliban, and had
consistently warned of the spread of the Taliban and allied
terror groups in the Afghan north. Coalition and Afghan forces
have been heavily targeting the Taliban and the Islamic Movement
of Uzbekistan's networks in the Afghan north over the past year.
The latest raid took place just yesterday in the district of
Burkah in neighboring Baghlan province, which ISAF described in a
press release as "a Taliban and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
safe haven." In that raid, security forces detained "numerous
suspected insurgents." [For more information on the special
operations raids in the Afghan north, see LWJ report, ISAF kills, captures IMU leaders in Afghan north, and Threat Matrix report, ISAF targets another IMU commander in Baghlan.] Sources: North Suicide Attack Kills 33, Wounds 42, TOLOnews Suicide attack on Afghan army center kills at least 37, Reuters ISAF Joins
President Karzai in Condemning the Suicide Attack in Kunduz, ISAF press release 31 government officials and soldiers killed, 34 wounded in martyr
attack, The Los Angeles Times Suicide bomber assassinates Kunduz police chief, The Long War Journal Taliban suicide bomber kills 32 in Afghan north, The Long War Journal Suicide bomber kills district governor, 6 others Taliban assassinate Kunduz governor in attack at mosque, The Long War Journal ISAF Joint Command morning operational update, ISAF press release ISAF kills, captures IMU leaders in Afghan north, The Long War Journal ISAF targets another IMU commander in Baghlan, Threat Matrix
