Wednesday, July 9, 2014

" Al Qaeda On The Run": Add 17 more to the 2,959 civilians dead, 5656 wounded in Afghanistan this year alone

7/9/2014

Suicide Attack Kills 4 NATO Troops, 13 Others in Afghanistan

KABUL – At least 17 people, including 10 civilians and four NATO troops, died and eight others were wounded on Tuesday in a suicide attack outside a health center in northern Afghanistan, an official told Efe.

The attack took place at 7:00 a.m. in the Qalandarkhel Bagram area of Parwan province, said Wahid Seddiqi, a spokesman for the province’s governor.

Two police officers and the suicide bomber also died, Seddiqi said, adding that a young boy was wounded.

The bomber detonated a vest packed with explosives in front of the clinic.

Two of the NATO troops were killed instantly and the other two soldiers died while being treated for serious wounds, an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesman told Efe.

The NATO-led ISAF has not revealed the nationalities of the soldiers killed in the bombing.

A total of 46 NATO soldiers, including 34 Americans, have died in Afghanistan so far this year, the independent Web site iCasualties said.

The Afghan conflict is in one of its bloodiest periods since the U.S. invasion that led to fall of the Taliban regime 12 years ago, with civilian casualties rising in the past two years.

Some 2,959 civilians have died this year alone, while 5,656 others have been wounded, representing 7 percent and 17 percent increases, respectively, compared to 2013, the United Nations said.

ISAF began a gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2011, transferring security tasks to the Afghan army and police.

The NATO-led force’s mission will conclude at the end of this year, but the United States said it would keep around 9,800 soldiers in the country until 2016.

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