Bomber targets UN medical convoy in Afghanistan

A suicide bomber in a vehicle attacked a convoy carrying Afghan doctors working for the United Nations in southern Afghanistan today, killing two doctors and wounding 15 other people, a police chief said.

The attack happened in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province as the convoy was on its way to vaccinate people against polio, said provincial police chief Matiullah Khan.

The blast killed two doctors, and wounded 15 other people, including 10 civilians and five Afghan guards protecting the convoy, Khan said. The bomber also died in the blast.

Khan says the victims worked for the UN’s World Health Organisation. They were travelling in clearly marked UN vehicles, he said.

Adrian Edwards, the chief UN spokesman in Afghanistan, said the organisation was aware of the report but could not confirm the details.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but Taliban militants are known to operate in the area and regularly use suicide bombing in their campaign against Afghan and foreign troops in the country.

Elsewhere, Taliban militants ambushed a police patrol in central Afghanistan, killing at least seven officers, while US-led coalition troops killed several militants in the east, officials said.

Authorities recovered the bodies of seven dead officers after yesterday’s ambush in the central Ghazni province, and another officer was missing, said Mohammad Sharif Kohistani, a provincial police official.

Lightly armed police officers bear the brunt of Taliban attacks in Afghanistan. More than 900 officers were killed by insurgents in 2007.

Separately, several militants were killed and two were detained during a raid by US and Afghan forces in the eastern Khost province yesterday, the US-led coalition said in a statement.

The troops were targeting militants associated with Siraj Haqqani, the son of long-time warlord Jalalludin Haqqani.

The US has called Siraj Haqqani a ruthless new brand of militant leader and last year announced a 200,000 dollar reward for his capture.

Haqqani, a Taliban-associated militant with close ties to al-Qaida, is accused of masterminding beheadings and massive bombings. He is believed to be in Pakistan.

More than 4,100 people, mostly militants, have died this year in insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan.